Rick Pace, 2015

File — Box: 2, Folder: 2

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This is a series of three interviews with Rick Pace. Rick was born in Provo, Utah. He grew up in Morgan, Utah, where he was raised in the LDS Church. As a boy, Rick felt different but did not have the language to explain his difference. He describes realizing he was having same-sex attraction and what it was like growing up in a LDS family and LDS community with this secret. Pace talks about the messages the LDS Church was giving members about homosexuality. After high school, Pace went on a mission in Bolivia. He continued to struggle with his identity until he returned and moved to Salt Lake City. Pace worked at hotels and his coworkers introduced him to the gay community. Then, he moved to Denver for work and also became a part of the gay community there. Pace also lived in the Bay Area for two and a half years before returning to Denver. When Pace discovered he had contracted HIV, he decided to sell everything, including a business he had just started, and return to Utah. When he moved back, he lived with his uncle, who was also gay and struggling with his identity. Pace describes coping with the diagnosis and the emotions he went through after learning he had HIV. He was treated by Kristen Ries and Maggie Snyder and joined a support group through the AIDS Foundation. Eventually, Pace started working for the AIDS Foundation as a bookkeeper and at one point he was even the director. Pace became too ill to continue working at the AIDS Foundation. He tells the story of how he met his partner after driving all the way to Las Vegas one night. They fell in love and started a relationship, despite Pace’s then terminal illness. Pace survived until the new treatment cocktails were available and he and his partner now live in Palm Springs, California.
Interviewed by Elizabeth Clement.

Dates

2015

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.