Rick Walsh was born on August 26, 1950 in St. John's Newfoundland.  He grew up in an extremely small mining town in the centre of the island called Buchans.  One of 17 children born to Catherine and Richard, he grew up loving the bush and spending every moment he could hunting and fishing in the bountiful maritime forests.

He left home at 15 to join his older brother Henry and his wife Orla in Toronto - what an introduction to the big city!  He worked as a clerk, miner, boilermaker, welder...was even a member of the Canadian Armed Forces.  He eventually settled in the Camrose area with his first wife, Joan.  They had a beautiful baby girl, Judi-Lynn who is now a Hair Stylist and runs a shop in Wainwright.

He began his real estate career in the Camrose/Provost area where he and Joan owned the Irma Welding Shop.  In 1978, things were very difficult because of interest rates toppi9ng 20%.  As a result, $1 deals and vendor take-backs were commonplace.  Rick still has experience in areas that few realtors today will ever (thankfully) experience.  If there is a way to write up a deal, Rick will know how to do it, guaranteed.

After his divorce, Rick sold real estate, but also owned 2 seafood restaurants with a partner in Camrose.  He finally decided he should head for the big city and resume his carfeer.  Only a few months later, on June 3, 1988, he met his wife, Colleen.

Colleen Dietrich grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan where she was born October 12, 1966.  Her maternal grandparents, Flo & Ernie were entrepreneurs since they married in 1927.  They wore many hats including owning restaurants, renovating and selling mobile homes (which we now call travel trailers).  Their only child, June-Anne Emery, was the light of their lives.  She became a legal secretary.  During her training at a business college, she met Vern Dietrich.  They married in July 1963.  In November of that year, the newlyweds were rocked by a severe car accident which left Vern in a coma for 23 days.  When they got back on their feet, they welcomed their only child, Colleen Anne.

The Dietrich family stayed close to the Emery family business, at that time, apartment buildings.  Vern managed them while June ran an importing business out of their small Regina home. Over the years, they stayed close to the Dietrich family on Sunday visits, complete with card games and great home-baked Austrian treats by grandma.  

Eventually, Colleen's grandfather's health began to fail and the Emerys sold the apartment buildings and instead of retiring he moved for almost 4 years for California to build houses in Spring Valley.  He passed away in 1980.

Not long after, as Colleen began university, her mother June took ill with cancer and died at 42.  Too many painful memories in Regina, June's Mom Flo, Colleen and her Dad moved to Edmonton where Colleen finished university and before you knew it, her path crossed with Rick's and a marriage and career soon followed!

With Hunter born in 1999 and Dixon in 2003, the family was complete.  The real estate careers continue, at almost 50 years combined experience, there aren't many situations that haven't been faced before...but there will always be things that happen that just keep a guy guessing!