Obituary

Richard William Sorgel
August 17, 1948 – July 23, 2023

Richard ‘Ric’ William Sorgel of Mission Viejo, CA passed away on July 23^rd at the age of 74. Ric was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to William and Mary (Selby) Sorgel. He is survived by his wife, Linda, and his two sons Kyle and Chase (Erin) Sorgel and three grandchildren: Peyton, Cooper, and McKenna. He is also survived by his brother Dave (Collette).

Ric was as passionate as he was curious from an early age. From his early teens to mid-twenties, he played in several bands with friends from Homestead High School: The Coachmen, The Destinations, and Over the Hill Gang. The Beatles were taking over the world with a new form of music, Rock ‘N Roll. Ric, along with his band members, contributed to this trendy take by donning their own Beatle-like bowl haircut (known as mop top) with matching suits, taking aesthetic black and white promo pictures of the band, and having a band name starting with ‘The’.

The Destinations was voted the most popular band in Wisconsin several times in the late 60’s. They became the house band for the Art Roberts (a WLS DJ) Swinging Majority TV show on Saturday evenings, which hosted any national act in town that week for their concert promo. 1967 was Ric’s favorite year; he would always reminisce about this time in his life.

In Ric’s senior year at Marquette University, he met his future business partner, Brien Lee, who hired him as a photographer for the yearbook. This started Ric’s new passion – photography. Ric and Brien created their first show together with photography and a soundtrack that tried to tell a story. It was a hit, and this sparked the start of a new business called Sorgel Lee, Inc. It was a communications firm that specialized in multi-image extravaganza and the occasional business theater stage show. For eighteen years, his companies created multi-media presentations that stopped eyes, grabbed hearts, opened minds, and thrilled audiences worldwide.

Then he brought the power of digital and the magic of photography to unique designs in the retail space. To inspire. To involve. To enable people to make more intelligent, more complete, more thoughtful decisions in choosing products and paths for themselves and their future. Along the way, Ric won more than 200 national and international awards as an artist and producer in a variety of industries.

Ric met Linda at The Peppermill, a disco in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Ric could dance extremely well and was always a dapper dresser. Sparks flew and the rest is history. They married and moved to California in 1987 when Chase and Kyle were 4 and 1 years old. The family joined Saddleback Church in 1988 when it was still small and located at a local high school. Ric would become one of the founders of the Photographers in Christ’s Service (PICS) ministry and led many small group bible studies.

Travel and photography were passions of Ric. Family vacations primarily consisted of road trips to the western parts of the US visiting national parks and top tourist attractions with Ric taking photos of the family. He re-discovered his passion for photography and focused on landscape pictures in his later years through his travels around the world with Linda and to capture the beauty of sunrises and sunsets.  In his retirement years, Ric started his own photography business working with previous business clients and selling landscape pictures. Ric won many photography contests, and his photos were displayed in art galleries and photography festivals in Europe and the United States.

Ric lived a full life precisely because he was a man full of life. He was outgoing, friendly, passionate, creative, and expressive. He had great skill at capturing the beauty of landscapes, but his best ability was connecting with people. No matter where he was, or what he did, Ric had friends. That is the lasting memory we all have of Ric – beautiful pictures and a beautiful soul. Rest in eternal peace Ric; your memory lives on in our hearts.

Two celebrations of life in honor of Ric will be held – one in California and one in Wisconsin.

A Memorial Service will be held at Saddleback Church on Friday, October 6^th at 11:00 a.m. at the Plaza Room.  A lunch reception will follow the service at the Plaza View Room. 1 Saddleback Parkway, Lake Forest, CA 92630.  Follow the signs on the campus.

A Celebration of Life will also be held at Galioto’s Twelve21 in Cedarburg, Wisconsin on Saturday, November 11^th at 4:00 p.m.   1221 Wauwatosa Road, Cedarburg, Wisconsin 53012.