We’re deeply saddened by the passing of Richard Mende, a longtime member of the Northern Lights Festival Boréal community.
Former AD Paul Loewenberg shares a personal reflection on Richard’s life, music, and lasting impact.
There are few in our community that have had as wide an impact as Richard Mende. He
passed in 2026 on April 16 at the age of 84. For a career, he taught English at Cambrian
College. He was a well rounded musician, photographer, music fan, mentor, traveller, father,
writer, coffee lover… the whole package.
Born in Kitchener, he played guitar in Jazz combos in the early 60’s before setting off
into education. A couple degrees and a masters later, Richard first visited Sudbury playing fiddle
with Humphrey and the Dumptrucks at the first editions of NLFB. A college teaching career
came calling and he settled in Sudbury, married Linda and had 3 boys. He continued playing in
various groups over the years, often at the festival. Richard moved back to guitar for several
years with Tuba Boy, followed by Mandolin for ten years as he continued playing with The Plug
Nickel String Band and the weekly Sunday Brunch at the Townehouse.
I played the tail end with Richard… we started doing Sunday brunch music at the
Buddha in 2008 with Ryan Levecque, Billy John, Marc Donato, Dan Levecque, Matt Foy, Anne
Boulton myself and a few others. Richard joined in sometime in 2009 as we moved it over to
the Townehouse… and played most Sundays until Covid shut us down in 2020. I’m thinking
about 400 Sundays. We had Jim Webb with us on Banjo for a few years. Chuck Roberts would
come by, Ben Wardo, Elmer Jackson, Vic Therieault and others made guest spots as well.
Mostly… it was me and Richard.
Week after week, I would learn new songs… and Richard, well into his 70’s would show
me as many as I could dish out. We usually played 3 hours straight. He loved Fats Waller, The
Carter Family, Jimmie Davis… we played Jazz, Bluegrass, Country, Folk… he loved Tom Waits,
John Prine, Steve Goodman, Steve Earle… The Rolling Stones. The few weeks that Richard
would miss would be if he was traveling to another festival, driving across the country, or if one
of the grandchildren had something big. Whether the grandkids were there or not, we played
“You Are My Sunshine” every week for his Grandkids. He loved hanging songs, political songs,
all the songs with a little innuendo.
Richard and Linda hosted song circles in the 70’s and 80’s… they attended Ceilidhs and
traded tunes with everyone in the scene in those years. He showed Duncan Cameron fiddle
riffs when he was just starting out. Richard and Rocky put Tuba Boy in front of every classroom
in the community for 10 years. Richard walked Bell Park every morning and took pictures of the
sunrises throughout the year, resulting in the sold out book, Mornings in Bell Park.
A whole generation grew up listening to Richard sing old time songs. He was Sudbury’s
Alan Lomax. He played the festival more than any other artist, including Paul Dunn and Jackie
Washington. I’d like to think that if Covid had not shut the world down, that we would have
played every Sunday until now. I miss my friend in music. I miss the teacher, the history, the
stories. He was also passionate about the world and therefore never boring. Richard’s
knowledge and life will live on in so many people in this community. I believe that he knew that
his impact will long be felt. If this be true… you’re never really gone.
Paul Loewenberg
