Richard John Nice (Feb 5, 1947 — Apr 20, 2020)

Rick grew up enjoying summers with his parents and three brothers at their cottage where Housey’s Rapids opens into Kahshe Lake. In the 1960s, Rick was very popular among Boomer generation teens on Kahshe. He was always up for a lark as when he smuggled a hand-cranked siren into the Muskoka movie house much to the consternation of the management. He tore around the lake in his multi-hued runabout, the Rainbow Raider, that he made at his dad’s Rainbow Marine boat works.  

As a founding member of the Pacemakers Boat Club, he helped organize and participated in the races they held on Kahshe. Rick chose teaching as his life’s work, graduating from Toronto Teachers College and then earning a BSC by commuting to Waterloo nights, weekends, and summers. He taught at the East York Board of Education and gave several students their first glimpse of cottage life. He’d been a Queen’s Scout in his youth and remained active as a scout leader and pursued another passion as an officer of the Ontario Recreational Canoe Association.  He was also an avid SCUBA diver, visiting dive sites throughout the Great Lakes and the Caribbean. He became a PADI instructor, providing his expertise to the Fern Resort and also to movie shoots in Muskoka. He partnered with a teaching colleague to create Classic Wood Flooring, which became a thriving business that carried him into retirement. 

In the 1980s, boaters would idle past to marvel at the distinctive dream cottage that he and his wife Jennie built high overlooking the bay and the impressive stairs he built down the rock face to access the lake. The cottage became a focus for their three children and six grandchildren. Upon retirement, he and Jennie took up permanent residence at the cottage and became valued members of the community, especially through their work with the Ryde Co-op.   

Although he faced some serious health challenges in recent years, he remained active with projects around the house and playing hockey three times weekly during the winter months.  Rick was always available to help or socialize with neighbours.  He was generous with his skills, his tools, and his time. Rick will be sorely missed by his family, his many friends, and the community of Ryde/Housey’s Rapids.