Richard Steven Guza was born on February 21, 1941, to Edith and Joseph Guza in Great Falls, Montana. The oldest of six children, he grew up with Joanne, Bonnie, Mike, John, and Bill in a Catholic family defined by gatherings, wonderful food, and abundant love.

At seven, Richard contracted polio and was taken to Shodair Hospital alongside many other children. To a frightened boy, his stay felt like an eternity. He returned home with permanent paralysis in his right leg and learned to walk again with a brace and two crutches. When he cried over the hand life had dealt him, Edith took him firmly by the shoulders, looked him in the eye, and said, “Do not cry. Never feel sorry for yourself. Be brave. Just keep fighting.” He carried those words throughout his life, continually testing the boundaries of what was possible, physically and mentally.

Richard graduated from Great Falls Central Catholic High School in 1957 and earned a B.A. in English from the University of Montana. He pursued graduate study in philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City while working at Random House. There he met Carmela Ayala. After a five-month courtship, they married and later welcomed Helen and Edward. After Richard completed his coursework, the family left the Big Apple for Great Falls, where generations of Guzas had lived before him.

Richard joined Montana Power Company as a bookkeeper and took correspondence courses in accounting, becoming a CPA and advancing his career. He walked to work every day on crutches, from Second Avenue North across the 15th Street Bridge, undeterred by the brutal winds and freezing snow. He never considered himself handicapped or let his physical limitations define what he could do.

At home, dinner awaited, along with Carmela’s laughter as he kissed her with icicles hanging from his nose and beard. He chose records from his floor-to-ceiling collection, filling the house with Bach, Chopin, Gershwin, Barber, Stravinsky, and more. After cleaning up together, Richard settled into his study with a pipe, coffee, and books on poetry, philosophy, history, physics, or religion. His evenings ended with Helen and Edward curled up on either side of him, mesmerized as he read aloud and gave every character a voice.

Weekends brought his two culinary specialties: pancakes and popcorn. Breakfast meant pancakes drenched in maple syrup, with sausage, bacon, and eggs; Saturday nights meant popcorn and games of Monopoly and The Magnificent Race. Family outings took them to the Highwood Mountains, where Richard climbed farther up the mountain while Carmela, Helen, and Edward built rock dams and searched for frogs by a creek. He also hiked Montana’s mountains alone and in all kinds of weather.

Richard transferred to Butte in 1988. He and Carmela loved its people and sense of community and never left. He retired amid the Montana Power Company/Touch America debacle, and Carmela retired soon afterward from Head Start in Anaconda. Together, they devoted themselves to volunteering. Richard helped prepare taxes through AARP each year and generously supported many nonprofits. In his final year, he established a scholarship for students from underprivileged backgrounds enrolling at Montana Tech.

Retirement also brought a return to the drums after decades away. Richard practiced daily, joining the percussion section of the Butte Symphony and later the Butte Community Band. He also volunteered with the Butte High School band’s percussion section. He and Carmela exercised at the MAC, forming close friendships with others who gathered there regularly.

In November 2023, Carmela was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After five painful months, Richard lost his best friend, his love, and the center of his life. He moved to The Springs in Butte, where the wonderful staff, along with Stillwater Hospice, cared for him for the rest of his life. During those final years, Richard, Helen, and Edward found new ways to connect, making their time together deeply meaningful.

Richard died on September 15, 2026, from COPD and complications of post-polio syndrome. He is survived by his son, Edward Guza (Leslie Taylor Guza); daughter, Helen Guza Bosch; siblings Joanne Guza, Bonnie Hocevar, John Guza (Donna Ahern-Guza), and Bill Guza (Jean Guza); and best friend, Jim Poletto. He was preceded in death by his wife, Carmela Ayala Guza; brother, Mike Guza (Shirley Guza); and parents, Joe and Edith Guza.