Richard "Rick" Allen Brueckner

74 year old Richard "Rick" Brueckner of Nokomis passed away Tuesday July 6, 2021 in St. John's Hospital, Springfield, Illinois.  The son of Melvin and Dorothy (Nicol) Brueckner, Rick was born April 12, 1947 in Springfield, Illinois. Rick is survived by his cousins Tammy (Terry) Richmond, and Sharon (deceased husband Rich) Sanders both of Hillsboro. Rick was preceded in death by his parents.

Rick was a graduate of Nokomis High School with the Class of 1965.  He held the scoring record of 1701 points (this was before the 3 point line) for 30+ years at NHS, he also has the single game point record of 41 points against Mt. Olive, most points in a season 598 points in 1963-64, most points averaged in a season 24.1 in 1964-65, total points in a high school career 1701 in 84 games for  a better than 20 points per game average and most rebounds in varsity game with 1024 in 84 games for an average of 12 per game. He went on to college at SIU-C and  played on the 1967 Saluki team that won the NIT (National Invitational Tournament) which was held at Madison Square Gardens. He played fast pitch softball as both coach and player for many years culminating in a 1983 State Championship.  

Rick was a school teacher and coach, having coached Freshman Football and JV Basketball for many years.  He retired in 2004 after 26 years with the Nokomis school system, having taught at Nokomis Grade School, South Middle School and Nokomis High School.  He was a member of Nokomis Sportsmans Club and United Methodist Church.  Rick will always be remembered as an avid outdoorsman, loyal St. Louis Cardinal fan and fisherman who fished in many ponds without permission

Visitation will be held at Stiehl Dawson Funeral Home on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 from 11:00 AM- 12:30 PM. Graveside services at 1:30 pm Nokomis Cemetery.

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