Rocky Van Blaricom Sr, a devoted father, grandfather, and friend of Las Vegas passed away November 7, 2010. He was born September 20, 1955, in London, England to Ed Van Blaricom and Phyllis Vance (Van Blaricom), both of Lansing, Michigan. He was a 25-year resident of Nevada.
His father was in the U.S. Air Force and Rocky traveled to many places. He had a love of baseball from early childhood. Becoming an adult, he continued his passion for baseball coaching and became President of Marty Barrett Little League in North Las Vegas. He also enjoyed soccer matches and was active in youth soccer for many years locally.
A former resident of Florida, he began a career in construction by building custom yachts. Later, he became a construction master plumber, which he enjoyed as a career here in Las Vegas with Gallagher Plumbing. Rocky spent his free time outdoors sailing, fishing and hunting with a camera capturing the beauty of the outdoors through photography.
He is survived by his immediate family, daughter, Abbey Czarnecki; sons, Rocky Lee Van Blaricom II and Corey Van Blaricom; and six grandchildren; sister, Cindy Smythe; niece, Amy Jamrozy; extended family in Michigan; and stepmother, Doris Van Blaricom of Florida.
Services will be at noon Sunday, Nov. 14, at the Grand Garden at Lakeside Center, 2620 Regatta Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89128.
Donations can be made to The Shade Tree Shelter, a shelter for battered children and women.
This notification was provided by Cindy Van Blaricom Smythe.
Rocky passed away in Las Vegas, Nevada at the age of 55 following a short illness with lung cancer. He was a resident of Las Vegas for 28 years working as a plumbing supervisor and was very involved in coaching and running the Las Vegas Little League. He loved life and created many adventures along the way taking multiple camping and driving trips into the mountains and the desert. He was also an avid photographer and loved sailing.
Rocky loved his years in Montgomery, Alabama and would have been a 1973 graduate of Lanier, however, he had to relocate to Lansing, Michigan following his father's retirement from the Air Force. He loved playing baseball and often spoke of the many "adventures" that he had with his friends at Bellingrath Jr. High and Lanier.