Scott Riegelmann, one of our dear members, passed away at his home in Oregon on May 16, 2025 and began his eternal life with Jesus. We greatly miss him, but will see him again. This page is a memorial and place to leave comments as we remember him. His profile page is here. 

Comments by members:

Scott Riegelmann
By Dion Todd

Our dear brother Scott joined Refreshing Hope Ministries Online Church over ten years ago, in 2015. He was a faithful and humble brother. We spoke on the phone occasionally when he was going through something difficult and would pray together. We often exchanged emails back and forth regarding questions about the Bible and such.

I watched Scott grow over the years, learning new things as he listened to the Bible on his phone and studied the Word. He developed that childlike faith that we all need, and he came to know the Lord in a special way. He never complained and was always happy to pray for others. He prayed for his sons constantly.

We were both from the rhythm section of the band and often spoke of playing music together, as he was a drummer and I was a bass player. He would sometimes play along with me on his drumset during our live services.  

Though we were in different time zones and our church meetings were at 7 AM his time, he was always there with a smile and rarely missed a service. Scott was even at RHM on Wednesday morning, hours before his passing, with a smile and his usual "LOL," and signed off with, "I LOVE YOU ALL. GOD WILLING, SEE YOU SUNDAY!!!"

Scott was a dear brother, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to have known him. He always made our lives a little brighter, even when he was enduring such pain, and he will be sorely missed. 

Yet, this is not the end of Scott but merely the beginning of a new stage of his life—an eternal life without pain, sickness, disease, lack, or sadness. Even though we are separated from Scott now, I have faith that one day, we will see him again. We must all ask ourselves: will we be ready when our time comes? 

A phrase that I often use is "Live your life ready to die." In other words, don't wait to tell that person that you love them; do it now. Don't wait to take out life insurance. Don't wait to make out a will. Don't put God on hold while you take care of other things, for death comes whether we are ready or not, and it doesn't take American Express. You pay with your soul. 

In the beginning, when God formed Adam from the dust of the Earth, He breathed into him the breath of life. That life has been passed down to us through the generations. To each of us, there is a day appointed when we will give that breath back to God, and our spirit will return to the Maker who gave it. None of us knows the day or the hour that will be, so Live your life with no regrets in the light of eternity. For those who are a part of the body of Christ like Scott, physical death will be like putting on shiny new clothes and moving to a better place. 

Everything that you see around you is temporary, but your spirit is eternal and will live forever. There is no promise of tomorrow, for the Word tells us that today is the day of salvation. You may question whether God loves you, but every breath that you take is another gift from God. It is another chance to make things right. Our lives are just a brief flash lived in the shadow of eternity, here today and gone tomorrow. They are like dust in the wind. So keep a short to-do list, and live each day as if it were your last.

Paul wrote in (Romans 8:38–39 NKJV)  "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Scott and I talked a lot about the Lord, shared audio Bibles we liked to listen to, and discussed things we had learned. Scott knew Jesus, and I look forward to playing music together one day with him and a band of angels.

Our time with Scott was too short, but 100 years would have been too. Scott was someone who touched my life in a special way. I have few friends, but he was a great one, and I will never forget him. Some day, we will be together again.

Rod Fortner:

It looks like Scott joined RHM about 4 days before I did so I know he's been a part of RHM since the beginning.
I just remember, unless there was a good reason he couldn't be with us, Scott was always online and would always have words of affirmation and encouragement for the body here (at RHM).

He would pray for people and would always have kind words for others. His online profile says he prayed for 1,490 prayer requests of others. Wow! I'm sure it was probably a lot more than that in his own prayer times. We will miss Scott, while we're still here on Earth, but I look forward to actually meeting him when we see him in our heavenly home someday.
For as John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Scott now has eternal life with our Savior and all because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Jesus, who knew no sin, gave His life for us so that we could be redeemed and can live for Him!
Scott lived his life for Jesus and is now with Him in glory.

Lynn Brown:

I never met Scott face to face but we are both members of Refreshing Hope Ministries, our online church. It seemed Scott and I were usually the first members in the chat before the Sunday or Wednesday services. This gave us time to chat and get to know each other and we became friends quickly. He shared his phone number with his RHM family and told us to call him anytime if we ever needed to talk. He was always praying for others' needs even when his needs grew greater and more urgent than others. He was sincerely concerned for what you were going through and was always there to lift you up and make you feel better. I don’t think I ever heard Scott speak an unkind or negative word about anyone! I think he would give you his last dollar or meal if you needed it. His faith and deep love for Jesus were inspiring. As well as his positive attitude, sense of humor and faith regardless of what he was facing. I remember him texting me as he was waiting to get his cancer treatments more concerned about how I was feeling and what my needs were. He loved his sons and spoke of them often. Always concerned about their lives and needs. He truly was one of a kind and I feel so blessed that I got to know him over the last few years! I know one day I will meet him face to face in Eternity. I know he is dancing with Jesus in Heaven with no pain, sickness or sadness, only living in pure joy! Scott, I will miss you until we meet again! I love you brother!

Marilyn Salter:

Please pass along to his family my deepest condolences. Many times, Scott’s testimony and insight lifted my heart. I will miss him so much, but I will see him again.

Cathy Webb: 

Thoughts of how difficult it is to make steadfast friends in the physical world, prompts tremendous gratefulness in my heart to our loving God as I think about Scott Riegelmann. He has been a steadfast friend in the virtual world!
Though we never met face-to-face, our God brought Scott into my life and heart through Refreshing Hope Ministries. Scott is a part of the West Coasties who get up early to bridge the 3-hour time difference to participate with this South Carolina-based on-line ministry. Scott’s love for Jesus, his perpetual cheer and encouragement, his love of music, and his genuine authenticity through the most difficult of human and health challenges were powerful and magnetic.
During a season when we drove the I-5 from Seattle to California assisting my elderly mom through her last days, I’d text Scott the approximate time we’d be passing through his area in hopes of meeting for a visit. Even though that never worked out, Scott had words of faith, hope and encouragement that lifted my heart every time! Scott was an encourager and a prayer warrior. God connects His people for a time and a season.

Scott and I shared a passion and deep longing for our adult kids, lifting each of them in prayer for guidance, correction, and that God would draw their hearts to His truth. Desire for his sons to know Jesus was always uppermost in Scott’s heart. Music was a special connection for Scott and I. When “Shine On Me” was part of the RHM playlist, one or both of us would post in the chat, “toe-tappin’ time” or “time to dance” and the words of that song were so evident in Scott’s life: “I want to carry Your presence for all to see!” Scott did!

Another shared favorite Dion Todd song comes to mind -- “Forever”. “Where you are is where I want to be.”
Thank you, Scott, for your witness and your dedication to Jesus. You are there in His presence, pain-free and resting in His arms. I am most blessed to be your friend and today reminded of this HOPE. We will meet face-to-face one day and sing praises to our God!

Liesel Wardle:

Oh, there is so much that I could say about our / my dear brother in Christ!!! His genuine expression of faith, love for his brothers and sisters in the Lord, his love for music, and so much more! I thank the Lord for getting to know him and leading me and so many of us to our RHM family!

Fellowship was truly felt whenever he was on with us on Wednesday's and Sunday's, and I was literally always looking on "live streaming" first to see if he was there! He was the embodiment of a true, honest, loving and caring friend, as I'm thinking of Proverbs 17:17 "being a friend who loves at all times", and then Proverbs 18:24, "a friend who sticks closer than a brother"! 

I so wish that my siblings, 2 younger brothers and 1 sister, would share the saving faith into and the love for our Lord and Savior, which truly is the binding tie, and also the assurance that we will see one another again as we meet on the other side!!
Our brother went through so much and yet showed so much love for each and everyone, praying for everyone even though he was the one in desperate need of prayer! I will never forget Scott, he left a hole in my heart, I believe in all of our hearts, and the only comfort we feel is knowing that we will see him again!!!

Thank You Lord for blessing us with Scott!, and Lord, please send Your mighty comforter to Scott's sons and family and fill their hearts with peace knowing that Scott is in a far better place, no longer suffering, and that he's doing well, as the Lord himself wiped away all of his tears!!!

Mary Pat Taylor:

Scott was one of my favorite people. He was so caring and had such strong faith in Christ. I have no doubt he is with Him now, healed and happy. It is I who is sad, to lose his beautiful light from the world. I will miss him greatly. Love, hugs, and prayers to all you who loved him.

Cristy Herzberg

Scott was a very dear person in my life who I will never forget. He was real : about as real as you can get. He was loyal and he was always there for me. He knew so many things about me & my daily life and we would talk all the time about all kinds of different things.   We were on messenger daily writing messages to each other, checking on each other all the time and we spent a lot of time just talking about the simple things in life - because really - we knew the simple things in life are really the best & most important things. We would sit out on his back porch and watch nature. It was his favorite place to be. We would see the deer, the birds, the squirrels playing, the beaver, and all of the cats that he fed -the feral cats - all playing back out there. 

He told me stories of growing up, and we drove past all the places and went and visited all the places from his past. It was so wonderful. He loved his children so so much they were the most important thing in his life by far and he very much treasured what a good dad he was and taking care of his boys. He often talked about stories of them growing up, and the things that they did and it always bought a huge smile to his face; you could see the pride of his boys he had! 

 He also had a very deep love for his mother who he missed very much and could not wait to see again. His biggest love was for Jesus ; his entire heart beat for Jesus and he literally gave us a glimpse of Heaven!  He had been really really really sick and fell asleep into a deep sleep one  night about 3 weeks ago, and Jesus came to him in a vision and showed him a glimpse of heaven that was so beautiful,  so surreal and he was just in awe as he was talking about it : it was so totally awesome and amazing Hearing about it. His face literally shone angelic like that day!  There are no words to describe it , but I could  see in his face how amazing & real it was, and I think that it was actually a gift from God to us ; to remind us where Scott would be and to be incredibly happy for him!  He also shared from being in the hospital right before that about a Dr Who didn’t seem to believe in God, and when they left his room as soon as they shut the door, there was a cross up above the room that fell on the floor behind them and on TV immediately was a show about Jesus And Scott was nowhere near the remote nor was anyone else!

Scott had such a love for animals. He donated to the rescue and He loved his cat snowflake from the bottom of his heart. He took such good care of her: such a good cat daddy. I know Jeremy is taking wonderful care of her now and always will. He also loved his friend Terry & Terry's son ! He said no one in his life ever made him laugh like Terry did daily& he never felt as close of a friendship as they did. He said they could get really mad at each other and competitive and then just turn around and laugh about it in the next conversation !  he said he was his best friend his whole entire life and that he knows that they would be together again someday. I heard a song on the radio the day he passed about being there in the whisper of the wind.  I know he is with us all and a huge part of us!   I will remember his pure heart & love & friendship  the rest of my life!