Richard Marill
In his own indubitable way, Richard Bruce Marill would have described his death as he “bit the bullet” at 10:23 a.m. on December 23, 2023, and ascended “UP” to his home in the sky. He will be remembered by anyone who knew him as one “wild” and “crazy” guy who embodied joie de vivre. Rick had an incorrigible sense of humor, fiery wit, and mischievous nature that was one of a jokester, punster, and prankster who thrived in the elements of play and laughter. He described himself as a 16-year-old trapped in the body of an adult.
To begin, on the morning of August 10, 1940, at 2:34 a.m., parents Shirley Ambrose Marill and Dr. Arthur Marill welcomed their eldest son, Richard Bruce Marill into their lives. Rick would delineate his birth in his own words saying, “he was hatched” in the hospital of Hennepin County, Minneapolis, Minnesota. His parents were of Jewish ancestry, Arthur, a New Yorker, and Shirley a Minnesotan. Three years later, Rick and his parents moved to the Borscht Belt in Los Angeles. There his father Arthur established his dental practice and his wife Shirley managed the office. Rick grew up in Los Angeles and attended elementary school, middle school, and L.A. high school.
As a young boy, his band of brothers were his neighborhood buddies who built and raced go-carts and played stick ball. As a teenager in high school, he was a competitive gymnast. After he passed his driving test, on occasions he was known to “borrow” his dad’s car without consent and cruise for chicks. This bold move inevitably got him into “hot” water with his dad who prohibited Rick from driving his car. Unaffected by his dad’s reaction, Rick saved and bought his own car, a Chevy Malibu that he fixed up in his spare time. He loved this car for the freedom it gave him. He returned to cruising for chicks looking “cool,” dressed like his idol James Dean, wearing a white tee-shirt, rolled up sleeves, minus the smokes, and an occasional leather jacket.
After graduating L.A. high school, he attended a community college and then transferred schools to earn his B.S. degree. Rick chose to follow in his dad’s footsteps to become a dentist. Arthur’s plan for Rick was to join him in his practice. Rick however, had other plans. Itching to leave his familiar stomping grounds, he applied and was accepted to the dental school at the University of the Pacific in San Francisco. There he and his fraternity brothers lived together in the medical district. Whenever Rick spoke of those flavored episodes of raunchiness, mayhem, and fun, his facial expression would dramatically change. His eyes glazed over while an impish smile broadened over the landscape of his face. One could witness, he was back in time reliving those famed wonder years.
Upon graduating from UOP with Doctor of Dental Surgery, D.D.S., he and a fraternity brother bought into an established practice in Alameda, California. After two years, he took over the practice. Eventually Rick built a beautiful office overlooking the marina of the Pacific Coast. There his patients could easily view the boats sail by. The setting was ideal and serene especially for “scaredy cats,” patients who Rick entertained with jokes and guises, oftentimes, winning over their attention. At times, he would appear wearing glasses with a windshield wiper that covered each eye and would jokingly pretend to perform an oral exam. On another day, he might appear wearing outlandish glasses made of wire that had the silver tops of a salt and pepper shaker that looped over each pupil, and wiring that extended over the tops of the eyes sporting two antennas, the sides of the glasses were made of the stem of spoons. Still, on another day you might catch him wearing yet another guise; a top hat covered with various colored birthday candles. Rick took every moment to employ his imagination and bring levity to work and to those around him. His best audience were his patients who loved him for his comic relief and carefree nature and his great dentistry. Many adopted his punning nature and affectionately referred to him as the Doc(k) on the Bay! His mentee remarked, “Rick made dentistry fun and delightful.”
Rick was a general and cosmetic dentist whose practice spanned over 47 years. He was recognized and awarded as a distinguished dentist by Yelp and Chanel 4 Television. On other surveys, Rick was voted the best dentist in the Bay area. He was passionate about his profession and fastidious about each dental procedure he performed. He strived to be the best and his patients knew it. He took great pride in having a close relationship with his patients. If he performed an unusual dental procedure that day, he would call the patient from home that evening and check in to see how they were doing and offered any additional support if warranted. He subscribed to many publications and periodicals, and regularly attended seminars and conferences to remain abreast of new discoveries and state of the art technologies. He was a serious life student of dentistry in which his patients benefitted. He had a staff of five employees that included 2 hygienists, 1 chairside assistant, 1 scheduler, and 1 office manager. His wife Caren helped him with his marketing. Rick spared no cost to appreciate and celebrate his staff and he did so with aplomb. At times he hired a limousine service, and scheduled fun outings (Boat Cruises on the Bay and San Francisco, a trip on the Wine Train of Napa Valley, jaunts to the Boardwalk in San Francisco and Santa Cruise), acrobatic performances (Teatro Zinzanni and Cirque de Soleil), San Francisco Plays and Shows (Tony and Tina’s wedding, Beach Blanket Babylon, and Les Miserable), Shopping (Union Square, San Francisco), lunches and dinners (at local restaurants and those far – Pasta Pelican, Tomatina, Asena, Trabacco, Burma Super Star, Mint Leaf, Benihana’s, Skates, Scott’s Seafood, and Shadowbrook). He also participated in a yearly staff appreciation evening that was held at a Yacht club or a winery. Besides the lovely scenery and a delicious dinner each employee had they also received prizes that were raffled off during the night. Rick was highly imaginative and always thinking of creative ways to give cash prizes. One year in particular, Rick used a label from the Rolling Stones logo and added an image of a man as you might see wearing a hard hat drilling into a slab of concrete that appeared on the tongue. Inside the bottle of wine, he stuffed one-dollar bills that totaled $100.00. He said, he had such a blast creating that gift and bringing it to life. During the Winter holidays there was always an exchange of gifts and dinner out for his staff.
As a humanitarian, Rick participated in pro bono causes and was passionate about giving back to those less fortunate. He participated yearly in the Give Back a Smile program which treated battered woman, who had their teeth avulsed. His last case before retiring was restoring a woman’s smile that required $25,000.00 of dental work. He also volunteered his time once a year in Sacramento to people of low income, which were individuals that could not afford proper dentistry. Moreover, he taught for a brief time at his alma mater, UOP.
Rick was a die heart Rock N’ Roller, advent pheasant hunter, committed movie goer, addicted Sci-fi reader, a hedonistic pleasure seeker, and dedicated foodie. After Caren conducted considerable research; they would choose a new restaurant to eat at every month. When the taste of the food transported them to a new dimension, Rick would write “yum” on the plate with his finger for the chef to know the food was utterly sublime. Together they coined the term “tonguegasmic.” Often saying, “they needed a cigarette after eating.” Neither of them smoked. Rick had a “need for speed,” a love affair with fast and exotic cars. Whether on vacation, attending a conference or seminar, Rick took every opportunity to rent a fast and exotic car. While attending a conference in Vegas, he took Caren for spin and accelerated to a speed of 130 mph. It was then Caren decided Rick needed to learn the mechanics and principles used by race car drivers in a safer environment. For his birthday, Caren bought Rick a driving package at Infinity Racetrack. In the morning Rick attended class and in the afternoon he and the other students took the cars on the track. His instructor noticed that Rick pulled back on his speed when cornering a turn and urged him to accelerate. The instructor flagged him down, jumped in the car and took the wheel showing Rick how to take a corner. The speed in which the instructor was going scared the crap out of him. It was bitter tasting medicine, but the patient obviously needed it to rethink the dangers of when and where to accelerate the speed in a car. Rick said, “spending the entire day at Infinity Racetrack was by far one of the best experiences of his life.” There were countless others, far too many to name them all that he treasured –attending a bullfight in Puerto Vallarta, firing a shotgun and releasing a bow and arrows in Lanai, paragliding in Maui, eating lunch at a lavender farm, ultra-gliding alongside frigate birds with a former movie stuntman, being at the top of the Haleakula crater at 4 a.m. watching the sunrise that was said to resemble the astronauts experience of being on the moon, taking a helicopter and boat into the Grand Canyon, exploring the underground stalagmite caves in Nashville, dancing at concerts at wineries, seeing the newly released play of the Jersey Boys in the theater district of Manhattan, visiting the Statue of Liberty, taking the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building, experiencing ground zero, lodging at the Ahwahnee hotel, climbing the mountains and walking the meadows of Yosemite grounds, laying on the dock late at night watching shooting stars at the ranch, fishing in the pond during early mornings, making smores over an open hearth, sleeping underneath the stars with Caren on the hilltop overlooking Chalk mountain, blindfolding Caren and carrying her over the threshold of the North Sea Castle in Elk, riding horses on the beach in Guala, skiing cross country at Heavenly, and just so many more.
Rick had a lasting effect on his wife Caren, particularly in the early stages of their dating relationship. For laughs and shock therapy, he thought nothing of mooning her to see her reaction. It seemed Rick was always doing something weird that took Caren out of her comfort zone. He took advantage of her naivety and couldn’t help himself by pulling pranks. There was the time Caren was picking up a few groceries from the store and asked him if there was anything she could pick up for him. He told her to purchase Dingle Berry jam. Originally a New Yorker, she was unfamiliar with assorted names of California berries and asked the grocer for the item. The grocer said, “I think someone is having some fun with you.” Upon her return home, Caren told Rick what happened, and he laughed so hard he farted. Then there was another situation, when the trend of turning a light on and off required clapping your hands. They had just arrived at the gate to the ranch that needed to be unlocked. Rick asked Caren to stand outside and open the gate by clapping her hands. I think you could surmise what happened next. He educated her in meanings of turd, hairy dork, and blue flame. When Caren was overtired, she would get tongue-tied making up a word that didn’t exist. These faux pas would send Rick laughing. Caren, however, was not amused and took it to heart. Feeling her sensitivity, he would tell her to laugh at herself and not take those incidents so seriously. In addition to his cavalier attitude, Rick was a thrill seeker and sat in the first set on the front row of a roller coaster, and in the front row of a Gallagher performance draped with a garbage covering his body. Caren sat alongside him and braved her way to courage. He stretched her beyond familiar and rational limits, and she grew stronger and gained a willingness to look funny.
Rick was a wonderful playmate, and fun and loving husband, devoted dad and stepdad, adored granddad, and amusing brother. He was preceded in death by his younger brother James Marill, his mother Shirley Ambrose Marill and father Arthur Marill. Rick is survived by his wife of 32 years, Dr. Caren Janis Baroff, his daughter Carrie Elizabeth Marill-Moore, his son Jared Aaron Marill, his stepdaughter Jenifer Beth Kaplan, sister Barbara Joan Marill, grandsons Vance and Townes Marill-Moore, and step-granddaughter Grace Honor Kaplan. They simply broke the mold when Rick was born. Unequivocally, Rick was a maverick, one of a kind, and a hard act to follow. Those who loved him, were graced by his infectious nature, goodwill, and lighthearted spirit. We are those fortunate ones who have a myriad of memories to draw from and honor his life well lived and celebrate the gift that he was. Thank you, Rick, for affecting us in ways beyond measure. You are loved deeply and dearly and will be missed. Alav ha-shalom. (Peace be upon him). May his memory be for a blessing.