Obituary of Joshua Ried

Joshua Ried of Beavercreek, OR, aged 68, died on Wednesday, June 10 of complications from cancer. Born in New York City, he was the son of the late Horace J. and Noël Mandel Ried. A lifelong music, motorcycle, travel, and real estate aficionado, he graduated from the University of Connecticut and Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, OR, an area that captivated him and became his home. His career path was diverse and far-flung, reaching from radio DJ in his college days to a long tenure as an investigator at the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry, with stops in between as a carnival roadie, a professional mediator, and public defender and attorney in tribal law on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation near Madras, OR. Closest to his heart was working with Donna Renton, his wife of 24 years, to raise award-winning Tawny Mist Silky Terriers and Cerberus Black Russian Terriers. He served valiantly in his capacity as unofficial puppy namer and puppy entertainer, earning the moniker “the world’s biggest squeaky toy” for his uncanny ability to whip puppies into a frenzy of flying fur, teeth, and joy. He is survived by his wife Donna Renton, her children Julie Moyer, Josh Renton, and Tiffany Thoen, his sister and brother-in-law Amanda and Doug Hewell, his nephews Zack Hewell and Cooper Hewell, and his brother Adam Ried. Memorial arrangements are in process. As Josh was often known to say, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”