Welcome to St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church

Raymond "Rick" Recor
1952 - 2026

Wilbraham, MA
Raymond "Rick" Recor , 73, died peacefully on Tuesday, January 21, 2026 surrounded by his loving family. 

He was born in Springfield to the late Wilfred and Catherine (McKee) Recor and was the founder of Rick's Auto Body in Springfield, MA in 1973. Rick's passion for cars began at 5 years old when he would follow his father to work washing and cleaning cars. At 16 he worked in a body shop sanding and taping cars to be painted. After a year he grew bored of that and worked at Central Chevrolet as a painter. He then worked at Beaulieu Chevrolet, Atlas Auto Body and Oliver before he realized he needed to start off on his own. He quit school in 10th grade and he began his love for his own business. His 1st shop was a 2-stall shop on Oakdale Street in Springfield, then moved to a 6-stall shop on Verge Street and eventually moved to his current location on Pasco Road in 1997 where he employs 45 employees. 

His dream was to run a shop whereby all demographics would feel comfortable doing business knowing that people drive cars from 16 to 99 years old. During a trip to Florida, he noticed a billboard with a classic 1955 vehicle on it. He returned to Massachusetts wherein he began a billboard campaign where at one point he had 30 billboards in the area. The billboards put him on the map, and he was off and running to new heights. His billboards were clever, amusing and never used more than 7 words but caught the eye of many drivers. To this day, customers still recall his billboards from decades ago. 

Rick's commitment to excellent customer service and quality workmanship lives on today. His motto has always been "treat people the way you'd want to be treated." Rick was proud that he was a member of the community and proud that his shop is still locally owned and operated to this day. He felt a responsibility to his community and was grateful that the community supported him in his endeavor which will continue with his family. 

Rick loved traveling around the world and experiencing new restaurants during his travels. He also enjoyed many hobbies; one of which was his motorcycle. His numerous trips out west on the open road were shared by many of his friends. In addition, he relished his fishing trips in Alaska and The Cayman Islands. However, the most important thing in Rick's life was his family and family of friends. His extreme generosity was his love language. He loved being able to do for others. 

In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his brother Paul Recor and Linda (Waloweek)Recor and his father-in-law Leo Tarpinian. He is dearly missed by his wife of 43 years, Mari Tarpinian, mother-in-law Lucy Tarpinian, brother-in-law Gary Tarpinian, (Paninee Theeranuntawat), sister-in-law Susan Tarpinian, (Carlo Damato) and niece Ariana Tarpinian (Steven Escaravage), his nephews; Michael Recor and Patrick Recor. 

Rick believed we need to train and develop the next generation of technicians. He accepted many interns from the neighboring trade schools such as Putnam, Pathfinder and Dean Technical High School. He felt if we do not take the time to develop the next generation, the industry will not thrive. Many of these interns became permanent employees of his and hold major managerial positions in the organization today. We would like to thank all the employees of the Rick's Auto Body family, past and present, as Rick loved them and was extremely grateful for their dedication and hard work. He always said he had the best employees in world. 

We would like to thank the professional staff in the MICU of Lahey Hospital in Burlington, MA; especially Dr. Akmal Sarwar. We would also like to thank the healthcare professionals at Dana Farber Cancer Institute; especially Dr. Robert Haddad at Head and Neck oncology in Boston, MA. 

Calling hours will be held on Saturday, April 18, 2026 from 9:00am-12:00pm, concluding with a Memorial Service at 12:00 noon at Wilbraham Funeral Home, 2551 Boston Rd., Wilbraham. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Dana Farber Cancer Institute, PO Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284-9168 or to Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, 41 Burlington Mall Rd., Burlington, MA 01805.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/masslive/name/raymond-recor-obituary?id=61225483

https://businesswest.com/blog/ricks-auto-body-carries-on-after-founders-passing/

Donations in lieu of flowers are gratefully accepted at St. Gregory Armenian Church, 135 Goodwin St, Indian Orchard, MA 01151.

https://saintgregoryarmenianchurch.org/donate-today