Richard “Rik” Cuttriss, age 91, of Fillmore, California, died December 28, 2025.
Rik was raised as a cricket-loving only child in Solihull, England. Born in 1934, World War II dominated his childhood. He often shared stories of hearing bombs fall during the war, including one that struck his own street. Like many boys of that era, he and his friends roamed bombed fields searching for remnants. It was wildly unsafe, and endlessly fascinating.
From an early age, Rik showed artistic promise. He studied art and design at the Birmingham School of Art, followed by a master’s degree in Industrial Design from the Royal College of Art in London. Between degrees, he served two years in the Royal Regiment of Worcestershire.
After completing his studies, he married Brenda Milbourn and began his career as a designer and then as a lecturer at Canterbury Art College, followed by Furniture Design at Buckinghamshire New University. Family life followed with the birth of David, and three years later, Kate. Always open to adventure, Rik applied to the Fullbright Exchange program and was sent to Chico State as an art professor. After just over a year, both professionally and personally, that chapter came to a close.
Heartbroken but hopeful, Rik began again and soon met the love of his life, Susan Preston, on a cruise to England. Sue embraced his children as her own, and together they shared more than five decades of love, partnership, and many cruises!
In the mid-1970s, Rik opened a jewelry design studio in the San Bernardino Mountains, briefly living the artist’s life before industrial design called him back in 1976. Tired of a long commute from Redlands to Gruber Systems in Valencia, Rik and Sue moved to Fillmore in 1979. Soon (1984) the family was complete with the arrival of Christopher.
Rik was an involved father and community member. He served on the 126 Highway Improvement Committee, Fillmore HS accreditation team, and a term as Little League President. He most enjoyed being the announcer at the games where he entertained the fans with baseball trivia between the innings and earned a trophy as the “golden mike of Fillmore”
The family grew again with the births of David’s children, Robert and Sarah, and Kate’s marriage to Matt Pinsonneault. It became a small but deeply connected family, rich with humor, adventure, and nights that inevitably ended with a competitive game of Mexican Train.
Rik came alive at the ocean. In retirement, he and Sue set their sights on the San Juan Islands in Washington. They spent wonderful years exploring the waters from Olympia, WA to the top of Vancouver Island In their boat, Sarah Kate. They formed lasting friendships and never missed a dock party! Rik was fully in his element, living the life he had imagined.
When dementia affected Rik’s ability to operate the boat safely, they returned to Fillmore year-round. Although his decline took much from him, it never took his love for Sue or his pride in his children. On the evening of their 51st wedding anniversary, after an afternoon surrounded by the family he built, Rik peacefully graduated to the next realm.