Richard Oltmann lost his long battle with cancer at the age of 72. Over his 55 year industry career he has been responsible for the ideas and designs of more than 40 games that he collaborated on with game manufacturers and at least another 35 that he designed and built at his own company, Family Fun Company, which he started in 2002. As an operator, my company made money with many of these games for a long time: Spin to Win, Speed Demon, After Shock, Basket Fever, Big Shot, Caveman Clobber, Time Out, and my favorite, Pharaoh’s Treasure, a true work horse game that we operate in almost every one of our locations.
Rich motivated and helped me and many others and his passion for our industry just rubbed off on people. He always shared his ideas and I have used many in my own operations and still use them today in articles and presentations. I first met Rich in 2000 at an AMOA Expo and within minutes knew that he was indeed very special. He started in this industry a year after graduating college in 1959 operating games throughout Chicago, in street locations, bowling centers, and amusement parks. The route grew in size to more than 2000 games. Rich then took another direction and opened an outdoor miniature golf course and expanded to go-kart tracks and ended up owning and operating several well-known family entertainment centers, including the world famous 60,000 sq. ft. ‘Enchanted Castle’ in Lombard, IL.
Over the years, Rich has supported Foundations University and we all looked forward to our yearly visit to his Enchanted Castle to see what new attraction and games Rich had added, how the merchandise games and cranes were promoted and be wow’d by the best redemption prize center in the industry. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to sit with Rich at least 3-4 times a year from year 2000 and be shown some of his new redemption game ideas and discuss industry issues. This was an honor for me.
I wish I had met Rich 30 years earlier when I started and built my similar games route in the New Jersey area as he might have influenced me to conquer other industry categories. His talents and drive were enormous. The gifts Rich has given to our industry are treasured and we are thankful that they will continue to be passed along to help newcomers be more successful. Perhaps it is fitting for Rich to be remembered as the ‘Triple Crown Work Horse of Redemption’.
