Niles - Rev. Richard D. Rintala was born on March 25, 1930 in Warren, Ohio, and died Friday, July 9, 2010 in Niles, Ohio.

He graduated from Warren G. Harding High School in 1948 and earned a B.A. from Boston University and an M.S.T. from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. He was ordained on June 20, 1954 in Waukegan, Illinois.

Pastor Rintala served parishes in Ohio, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Washington. After retiring from the parish ministry, he was employed as a retirement counselor at Boeing Commercial Aircraft in Seattle, Washington and as a pastoral counselor at Family Life in Tucson, Arizona. He was active in several Finnish-American clubs, serving as Program Director for Finnfest USA 1989 in Seattle and Vice President of the Finnish-American Club of Tucson.

Pastor Rintala is survived by his wife Barbara of Niles; his sister, Dorothy Rosenberg of Chardon; his son and daughter-in-law, David and Maureen Rintala of Snohomish, WA, his daughter and son-in-law, Rebekah and Charles Taylor of Tucson, AZ; cousin Pamela Rintala of Warren; grandchildren, Colton Rintala, Emma Rintala and Hannah Taylor; nieces and nephews, Joseph and Marie Kovitch, Eric and Susan Rosenberg, Fred and Kathy Greenwood, Robert and Valerie Rapp, and Joel and Susan Kuzich, and many other beloved cousins, great nephews and great nieces.

He was a man of deep spirituality and vivid intelligence, with an unflagging sense of humor. He loved reading, singing in choirs, traveling, visiting with family and friends, playing bridge, and all creatures great and small.

A memorial service will be held on July 24, 2010 at 11:00 am at Living Lord Lutheran Church, 851 Niles-Cortland Rd. in Howland.

Memorial contributions may be made to World Hunger fund of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America at www.elca.org/hunger or 1-800-638-3522 or ELCA World Hunger, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago, IL 60694-1764.

Selby-Simpson Funeral Home handled the arrangements.