Son memorialized with sky-high plans

By RODNEY CALVER For The Capital

So along with establishing a memorial fund in his name, tonight she's having a spectacular fireworks display on the South River and party for 200 to 300 people.

Rick Lofgren died on Sept. 14 of a PCP overdose. He was 34.

"Rick loved the Fourth of July," Mrs. Sargent said on the deck of her waterfront home in Edgewater. "He would turn up with an armful of fireworks. So we decided to have a fireworks memorial to celebrate his life. And we plan to do it every year from now on."

They planned the party for the Saturday after the Fourth so as not to take guests away from their families.

Rick, who graduated from South River High School, worked with his mother and stepfather, Rick Sargent, as a home improvement contractor. Mr. Sargent is semiretired from the construction business but still involved in property management. Mrs. Sargent owns Sandra Lofgren Sargent and Associates, a realty company in Edgewater.

She described her son as a big-hearted man who called her daily and was devoted to his grandmother, 84-year-old Miriam Marinelli of Edgewater.

One Christmas Eve, Rick anonymously delivered a package of presents to a single parent in the community.

"He was always helping the underdog," she said. "He would bring people to church or introduce them to a church program, saying, 'I think we need to buy another Bible."'

Pastor Chuck Sheetenhelm of Chesapeake Christian Fellowship in Davidsonville also recalled how Rick reached out to people in the community: "He took his beliefs outside the walls of the church."

For the last three years of his life, Rick lived in Riva with his girlfriend, Tina Hale, who watched him struggle with his drug addiction.

"But the weekend before he died, he was very positive," she said. "He said he would try to do better and we talked about our plans to open a tanning salon in Edgewater."

She said he was also being treated by his physician for bipolar disorder.

Mr. Sargent said Rick first became involved in drugs when he was 17, experimenting with marijuana. He was later introduced to cocaine and PCP.

"He went through drug programs and we were very hopeful," said Mrs. Sargent. "He promised me he was off drugs. Perhaps I was just in denial."

Mrs. Sargent's initial goal is to raise $100,000 for a foundation in her son's name. Funds will be sent to the Good News Jail and Prison Ministry and also used to establish a project called Restoration Hope.

"Our aim is to get people who are recovering from addiction to work with us to help older people in our communities to restore their homes, or help with their yards," she said. "I want to bring back the sense of community."

Guests and family from Virginia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia will attend tonight's party, which is expected to spread across three neighboring waterside homes. Music will be provided by the band from the Chesapeake Christian Fellowship.

"I know something good will come of this," Mrs. Sargent said. "Everything is done for a reason. The way out of this (tragedy) is for us to help other people."

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Rodney Calver is a freelance writer in Harwood.