Enfield, N.H. —
Rich was born to Ross W. & Sandra L. (Cookman) Lurvey in Claremont, N.H. on July 11, 1969. He grew up in Enfield and graduated from Mascoma High School in 1987. Upon graduating, he worked for several years as a Technical Support Specialist at Hypertherm. In 1996, he began working as a Computer Support Engineer at Sun Microsystems, first in Massachusetts and later in Colorado. In 2005, he was hired as a Senior Technical Support Engineer at Veritas Corporation (subsequently acquired by Symantec) in Newton, Mass., and was employed there for over eleven years.
Rich is survived by his life partner Christopher Paul Roberts, his Mother Sandy Benjamin and her husband Jim, his sister Jennifer Lurvey Dole, his five children Michael Hutchins, Kristen Bourgault, Rachel Lurvey, Jonathan Lurvey, and Rebekah Lurvey, his eight grandchildren Jared, Christopher, Ryan, Bryan, Isabella, Jayden, Sophia, and Caleb, his former spouse Sharon Angel, two nieces Abigail Dole and Desirae Lurvey, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and his two beloved cats Ebony and Obie. He was predeceased by his father, maternal and paternal grandparents, and his sister Pamela Lurvey.
Rich was an amazing individual with many astounding talents and abilities. His greatest passion was rap music, and he was known to his numerous fans and followers as Masta Switch (his rap name). He had a truly genuine gift for writing rap lyrics, and he co-produced an album with his rap partner MC Holy Ghost (Paul Breeden) in 2008. While not (yet) as famous as his idol Eminem, he was every bit as brilliant a rap artist, if not more so, although Rich never would have believed or said that about himself.
Rich also had outstanding technical and problem-solving skills. On his own initiative and with entirely self-taught knowledge, he coded and designed software programs that significantly increased productivity while he was employed at Hypertherm and Veritas. Entirely on his own, Rich also learned how to use various computer operating systems including UNIX and LINUX, enabling him to become one of the top technical support engineers at Veritas.
Rich loved nature, and among his favorite activities was to ride dirt bikes and four wheelers on the many trails around his Mother’s home (which he always considered his true home) on Methodist Hill. He had many varied interests, from science, technology, animals, religion, and philosophy to tennis, hackeysack, drawing, and break dancing. He was an outstanding cook, and an absolute master at video games.
Most of all, Rich enjoyed being with the people he loved. He had a gigantic, humble, generous, kind, and gentle heart, and always did his best to make his family and friends and even acquaintances and strangers happy. Rich was only happy when the people he loved were happy.
Family and friends are invited to Rich’s calling hours on Sunday, April 2, 2017 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Ricker Funeral Home in Lebanon. A time of remembrance and sharing will begin at 4 p.m. An online guest book is available at www.rickerfuneralhome.com to leave a message of condolence for Rich’s family.