Richard Arthur Niemann, 69, of Denton, died Monday, February 1, 2021 at Medical City of Denton.

Richard was born on December 24, 1951 in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and worked for many years as a financial advisor. He was married to Patricia Ann Lair on July 11, 1991 in Peoria, AZ. He served in the United States Army and was a member of Denton Bible Church.

Richard is survived by his wife, Patricia Niemann of Denton; daughters, Jennifer Niemann of AZ, Rhea Franse and her husband Jarrod of Denton; sons, David Niemann and his wife Colleen of ID, Aaron McCullough of Denton; sister, Jane Hayes of AZ; and six grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Pete and Gladys (Ramey) Niemann.

Richard lived life with passion for many things.  He especially loved trains and spent many hours designing and building – and redesigning and rebuilding -- a miniature train village in his special room of his house – "the train room" as it was affectionately called by all.  It was clearly a hobby, though, because he never actually finished one.  Ever.  They were always a work in progress.

He loved going to church, learning the Bible and listening to David Jeremiah sermons.  He loved Italian food and good red wine, contemporary Christian music and church choirs, he loved sports and movies and dogs -- but most of all, he loved spending time with his family.  A raucous family gift-opening, meal-sharing day at Christmas was one of his favorite things.

Richard was a gentle giant -- a large man with an imposing presence, but a large, tender heart and gentle soul as well.  He rarely talked about himself, preferring instead to learn about others and the current events of their life.  True to the end, even in his final hour of life, when his daughter Rhea visited him in the hospital, after saying a weak "hello" he asked her, "How's your family?"  And when asked by his wife in his final moments if he was ready to go be with Jesus, he responded with a confident, "Yes."

A graveside service will be held at 2:30 PM Friday, February 5, 2021 at Highland Cemetery, Melissa, TX.