Remembering Rick Lafranchi

April 16, 2026

We are deeply saddened by the unexpected passing of Rick Lafranchi, a beloved member of the Lafranchi family of Nicasio and a tireless ambassador for West Marin agriculture. Our hearts go out to his wife Debby, his siblings Randy, Scott, Jan, Diane, and Kimberly, his children and grandchildren, and to everyone who had the privilege of calling Rick a friend — his warmth, his storytelling, and his unshakable pride in this land will leave a lasting mark on our community.

Rick was the second oldest of six siblings and served as the public face of the Nicasio Valley Cheese Company, the award-winning farmstead creamery he helped co-found in 2010 alongside his brother Scott. But to understand Rick, you have to understand where he came from. His grandfather, Fredolino Lafranchi, immigrated from Maggia, Switzerland in 1910 and established the Lafranchi Dairy in Nicasio in 1919. Rick’s father, Will, was born on that ranch and spent his entire 78 years on that land. Rick inherited not just the acreage, but the ethos — a deep belief that this particular place, with its coastal fog and rich pastures, was worth fighting for.

“West Marin would be a totally different place were it not for MALT,” Rick said at a public event in recent years, recalling how the 1963 Marin Community Plan had envisioned three freeways cutting through Nicasio, and how the combined effort of early conservationists and land trust advocates had stopped that future cold. He understood viscerally what had been at stake, and what had been saved.

The cheese company itself was born from a 1973 family trip to Switzerland, Rick’s father’s first visit since childhood, where they tasted cheeses unlike anything available back home. “I can still remember Dad suggesting, wouldn’t it be great to one day make these cheeses on our Nicasio Ranch,” Rick recalled.

That dream took decades, a second trip to Switzerland in 2004, a partnership with Swiss master cheesemaker Maurizio Lorenzetti, and years of patient, painstaking work before the first wheels came out of the creamery. The result — nine organic, farmstead cheeses rooted in Swiss Alpine tradition and West Marin terroir — has earned national recognition, including multiple awards for Foggy Morning, their fromage blanc-style flagship.

The rolling hills of the Lafranchi’s ranch in Nicasio — land the family has farmed and cared for since 1919.

Rick spoke often about MALT’s role in making the Lafranchi story possible. In 1985, the family had long coveted a ranch adjacent to their home property, but the asking price, which included development rights, was out of reach. A partnership with MALT changed that: the Lafranchis purchased the land, MALT purchased the development rights, and the creamery that would eventually operate there came to life. “It allowed us to have what we have today,” he said simply.

Rick’s commitment to MALT extended well beyond his own ranch. He served on MALT’s board of directors from 2007 to 2016, including two years as board chair from 2012 to 2014, a period of significant growth for the organization.

“Rick was an invaluable member of our agricultural community, a former board member and board chair, and a dedicated member of our Advisory Committee. But beyond all of that, he was simply a wonderful person — generous with his time, his knowledge, and his spirit. He will be sorely missed,” said Lily Verdone, MALT’s executive director.

What came through most in Rick was his sense of obligation to the next generation, not just his own family, but the broader agricultural community. He understood that the pull of the land was real and enduring, and that the challenge wasn’t keeping people away from farming so much as creating something worth coming back to. The creamery, in his telling, was always partly about that: building a ranch and a brand that the next generation would want to carry forward. That legacy is now theirs to steward, and it is a remarkable one.

Rick is survived by his wife Debby, his children and grandchildren, and a large extended family whose roots run through the soil of Nicasio going back more than a century.