Dr. Frederick “Rick” M. Mosher, age 86 of Freeport, Ill., passed away on Sunday, May 6, 2024 at FHN Memorial Hospital. He was born June 25, 1937; the son of Stuart Mosher and Edith (McMullen) Mosher. Rick grew up in New York City, New York; MacAllen, Texas; Truro, Nova Scotia and Fairfax, Virginia. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature in 1959 and married Nanette Cushman that same week. He graduated from the University of Virginia Medical School in 1963. Upon completing his residency in pediatric medicine at Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Va., Rick was drafted into the US Army Medical Corp and served two years at Fort Campbell, Ky., where he was attached to the 101st Airborne Division.

Rick came to Freeport following his discharge from the service in 1968. He served the community as a pediatrician for 20 years, then as an urgent care doctor until his retirement in 2003. His work touched many lives in Freeport and beyond. Outside of his medical practice, he was happiest in his garden, which expanded over the years to include an heirloom apple orchard, a chicken coop, and much more. Rick had a lifelong love of books and writing and enjoyed camping trips in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, travels to Greece, Italy and England with his wife, and spending time with his grandchildren. Rick was a member of the Stockton Unitarian Universalist Church.

In addition to the long hours and heavy responsibilities of his pediatric practice, Rick also found time for a seemingly endless range of pursuits, including beekeeping, photography, writing short stories, fishing, raising rabbits, lake swimming, pressing his own cider, playing harmonica either with a bluegrass group or simply wherever he happened to be sitting, assembling antique clock replicas, tending to his 1947 Ford 9N tractor, and, when he was a boy in Canada, curling.

Survivors include Nanette, his wife of 65 years, sister Deredith Riddick of Leesburg, Virginia, sons Frederick (Alison True) Mosher of Chicago, Illinois and Theodore (Barbara Spadaro) Mosher of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, daughter Emily Costos of Atlanta, Georgia, six grandchildren and multiple great grandchildren.