John Richard ‘Rick’ Rice was a sergeant in the United States Air Force during Vietnam.

After returning from his duties as a sergeant, he became a meat cutter for Safeway and retired after 30 years. 

Rick's passion upon retirement was working with veterans in any capacity he could. In his younger years, one of his greatest pleasures was riding his Harley Davidson with his biker friends which led to him serving as senior ride captain of the Patriot Guard Riders in Lake County. For many years he was very active in escorting veteran funeral processions. 

Rick served as Sergeant at Arms for Lake County United Veterans Council. He and Frank Parker were the founding members responsible for organizing the early iterations of Vet Connect.

Today their legacy lives on with “FRICK HALL” (a contraction of Frank and Rick), a brick-and-mortar presence in Lake County focusing primarily on providing material assistance and support for homeless veterans.