Richard J. Esway

Richard J. Esway ("Rick"), age 75, died April 29, 2014 at his home in Mesa, Arizona, surrounded by his loving family. He lived with grace and courage through five years of treatment for metastatic colon cancer. Rick was born in Canton, Ohio, on August 25, 1938, the youngest of 14 children. He graduated from Timken High School in 1956. He and his family lived in Arizona for 30 years before returning home to Canton in 2009. In 2013, he and his wife Judy moved back to Arizona to be near their children, but Rick counted those five years as a joyous time of reconnecting with extended family and childhood friends, who welcomed him back in their lives as though no time had passed. Early in Rick's career, he worked at Goodyear Aerospace in Akron for 15 years as a draftsman. Later he worked at various high tech companies as a design applications engineer in California and Arizona, retiring in 2006 from Cadence Design Systems, Phoenix, Arizona, with 15 years of service. During his career, Rick had the opportunity to travel the world demonstrating engineering products to potential customers. He especially enjoyed his trips to Italy, Singapore, and Taiwan. In a high stress environment, many of his younger coworkers expressed ongoing respect for Rick's patience and calm demeanor. During his illness, Rick took great comfort in the countless notes and phone calls from his old friends, telling him how they had looked up to him as a wise mentor, their "Yoda." Rick is survived by his high school sweetheart and wife of 55 years, Judy (Spitale) Esway; children, Rene (Terry) Batson of Mesa, Arizona, Valerie Esway (John Shiurba), and Ricardo Esway (Adrienne Petersen) of Oakland, California; granddaughters, Angela, Caitlin, and Emily Batson, and great-grandson, Brayden Batson, of Mesa, Arizona. He is also survived by one sister, Shirley Cooney, of Garden Grove, California, numerous nieces and nephews, and many cousins in Ohio and in Pescara, Italy, the birthplace of his mother. Rick is preceded in death by grandson, Sean Christopher Batson, parents Paul Esway and Elena Pagliari Esway, and siblings Dominick, Donald, Andrew, Anthony, Frank, Paul Jr., Patrick, Joseph, Lillian Angeloni, Madelaine Misch, Louise Hiteshue, and Ida Mae Antos. Rick was playful and had a great sense of humor. He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, and friend. His favorite prayer was the Prayer of St. Francis. "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace." Peace exuded from Rick, especially in his latter years, and peace was his lasting gift to his loved ones. He will be forever missed and never forgotten. Family and friends will be received at the Rossi Funeral Home on Sunday, May 4, from 3pm to 5pm, 730 30th St NW, Canton, Ohio. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Monday, May 5, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Anthony / All Saints Catholic Church at 1530 – 11 ^th Street SE in Canton, with Fr. Tom Bishop as celebrant. Interment at Calvary Cemetery in Massillon. Memorial donations may be made to St. Anthony / All Saints Catholic Parish or The American Cancer Society. If you would like to sign the on-line guest book in memory of Rick, the family would be comforted by your messages.

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