Gerick (Rick) Johannes Plenert was born to Gerhard and Renee Plenert on December 5th, 1980 in Queretaro, Mexico. He was born into a family with two sisters and one brother. He came a week early and his parents were still waiting for a shipment of baby things that they had bought in the states but got stuck at the border.
They never did get those things but had to go out and rebuy baby clothes and things after Rick was born. Because of his birthplace he had dual citizenship. They visited cities all over Mexico during his first couple weeks of life, like Acapulco.
His grandma liked to say that he was born with a suitcase in one hand because he was born in a foreign country and traveled and lived in many places. They moved to Sacramento, CA before he was a year old where Joshua was born. They moved to Eugene, OR when Rick was 3 and then moved to Provo, UT at age 4 where Natasha was born.
They moved to Golden, CO when Rick was 5 while dad was working on his PhD. This is where he bonded to his first real friend “David”. Unfortunately, David got leukemia.
Rick would want to go play with David and even at the end when David was too weak to get out of bed, Rick would want to go over and he’d jump up on David’s bed and play like everything was going to be fine. He brought David so much joy right to the end of his life. They moved back to Sacramento at age 6 where they lived for 4 years and Zack was born.
They lived in London England during a student abroad and toured all over England and Scotland. The kids were each given money so they could buy souvenirs. Rick just had to buy a kilt.
He thought that was so cool that he could wear a skirt. They moved back to Provo, UT for 7 years where Chelsey was born. During that time they spent one year in Malaysia and one semester in Hawaii.
When they were living in Hawaii he asked mom and dad if they’d get him a surf board. All the kids had boggy boards but that wasn’t good enough for Rick. He wanted to be a surfer.
Mom and Dad wouldn’t buy him a surf board but one day Rick came home with a surf board under his arm. He had used his own money and found a used surf board. Mom wasn’t happy about it.
She had too many fears about the dangers of surfing but Rick did it anyway. While living in Provo, one day Rick asked if he could ride his bike from Utah to California. Out of the blue he had this goal and called his friend Craig Compton in Sacramento and asked him to ride with him.
Mom asked Rick if he was going to start working out or biking to get ready for the trip . . .
“no, that’s not necessary,” he said. So one day Craig’s family flew him to Utah and him and Rick got on their bikes and did the trip in 7 days. They did another trip where they rode their bikes from Provo, Utah to the Mexican boarder.
On the trip they got stopped by the Police because they were suspected of being “runaways”. When Rick was attending high school at Timpview High in Provo he won an award for pantomiming. Mom and Dad didn’t even know he could do that.
They moved back to Sacramento, CA. Rick begged mom and dad for a membership to a gym, which they would not buy until they were told – “there are worse things a kid could want”. He then received his membership.
His passion for working out started in high school. He also became obsessed with modelling and he talked mom into going to LA to try out. After high school Rick moved to Utah to live with a friend.
He applied for a job at 24 Hr Fitness and they kept telling him they didn’t have an opening. Rick got membership there and would not take no for an answer. He kept bugging them until they hired him as a trainer.
Within a year he was one of the top 10 trainers in the nation for 24 Hr Fitness. Within three years he and two other friends from 24 hour fitness broke off and started the company TOTAL HEALTH & FITNESS. He had a passion for helping others reach their fitness goals.
He is survived by his three children Livy Jay Plenert, Gerrick Johannes Plenert and Gage Johannes Plenert. In his own words “I love my kids! Next to that nothing brings me more joy than changing lives!
” He passed away at age 37.
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