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Thursday, August 31, 2017
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JB Brown posted a condolence
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
My younger brother Victor and I grew up with Richard and Chris in Arlington. As it too often happens, we lost touch over the years. When I read Cris's story "Memories of My Brother" I told Vic it could've been about us too. Rich was always fun to be with, a great guy. It truly was a blessing to have known him. I will remember him fondly always. Jon Brown, Arlington, VA
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Jason Tom posted a condolence
Monday, May 20, 2013
Richard is a soccer warrior. He has such a passion for the sport and his teammates. He couldn't play much after being sick so he decided to be our leader with fees and coaching and being involved in the sport a different way. If someone got hurt he would recommend to fill the bathtub with ice water and soak. He would round up the troops to play a scrimmage. Richard was not only a great teammate and friend he was a good genuine person. Glad he was part of my life and still is and always will be. Our thoughts an prayers are with you all.
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Jason Tom posted a condolence
Monday, May 20, 2013
Richard is a soccer warrior. He has such a passion for the sport and his teammates. He couldn't play much after being sick so he decided to be our leader with fees and coaching and being involved in the sport a different way. If someone got hurt he would recommend to fill the bathtub with ice water and soak. He would round up the troops to play a scrimmage. Richard was not only a great teammate and friend he was a good genuine person. Glad he was part of my life and still is and always will be. Our thoughts an prayers are with you all.
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Jon (JB) Brown posted a condolence
Monday, May 20, 2013
Rich was such a great guy. One of a kind. My brother Victor shared the sad news with me on-line. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Chris and Steve and all of Rich's family and many friends. God bless.
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Mike Miller posted a condolence
Monday, May 20, 2013
My prayers are with you at this time. I have so many great memories of Rich. Going down to the river after school at Woodmont and catching herring when they would run, building forts, going to New York in 6th grade with our class, being crossing guards, playing in a band for the 6th grade talent show, swimming on a number of teams over many years, and many, many more. The best of friends. Someone I always looked up to. I wish I lived closer at times like these. May God give us peace and and heal our broken hearts.
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Jeff and Crystal Grimm posted a condolence
Monday, May 20, 2013
Condolences from our family to yours. Although I graduated in '75 and my wife in '76 from W-L, we both knew of the atheletic prowess of Rich in rowing and soccer. Jesus said, "My Fathers house has many mansions, I go there to prepare a place for you." We are sure he is reunited with family and friends. R.I.P. my fellow General! God Bless his soul and may His love comfort the family! Jeff and Crystal Grimm
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Steve McCann and family posted a condolence
Monday, May 20, 2013
Steve...You and your family are in our prayers. Sorry for your loss.
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Anonymous posted a condolence
Sunday, May 19, 2013
When I posted my first Facebook announcement of Richard's passing, I got many kind responses. One comment that seemed particularly perceptive came from someone who I did not really think knew us all that well. Until two years ago, I had not talked with Moira Saucedo since 6th grade, and the only contact since then has been occasional Facebooking. Moira was impressed by how close and supportive we three brothers were. I have heard similar comments over the years, praising us for our closeness, and it always struck me as odd that someone might not feel close to his brother, but I guess that's the way it is in some families. It's at such times that I realize how lucky we were to be raised by the mother and father we had. Richard, Stephen, and I are largely who we are because that is how we were raised. Our mother was a devout Christian who was able to boil Christian theology down to three simple words: "God is love," and loved is what we always felt in our family.
I knew Richard his whole life, and nearly all of mine. I can't remember a time before Richard, and it is difficult to imagine the years to come without him. I don't even remember our earliest moments together, but I know we forged a strong bond even from our earliest years. He was my constant companion and playmate until the time we entered school. We were not sent to day care, and we didn't have a TV until I was 6. So what did we do? We used our imaginations to find ways to amuse ourselves, and a lot of our time was spent outdoors. For Richard's first three years, we lived in a farm house in the country. I used to have a recurring dream of endless golden wheat shifting in the wind beneath a clear blue sky. I'm certain that it came from that time. When Richard was three and I was four, we moved to Arlington, Virginia. The first house we lived in had a big sandbox and what seemed to be an immense back yard that ended where the woods began. Not far into the woods was a creek, Gulf Branch I believe. It was God's playground for two young boys. The next year, we moved to the house on Pollard Street, where we lived until we left home and where our mother lived until she could no longer live on her own. It too had a beautiful back yard, with our own little forest. There must have been 20 oaks back there all over 60 feet high. A block away was a much bigger patch of woods. It's now a park, but back then it was just vacant land, where we could be Daniel Boone, Davy Crocket, wild Indians, or World War II soldiers. There was a sandy hill back there that we tunneled into imagining that if we really put our backs into it, we could burrow straight through to China. These woods were behind Emory Swink's house. If O. Henry had known Emory Swink, you would know where he got the inspiration for "The Ransom of Red Chief." One day, Richard and I were working on the tunnel when Emory appeared with a newly acquired bow and arrow. The next thing we knew an arrow was headed straight our way. We ducked, heard the arrow plunk into the sand attempted to escape the tunnel. Emory sent another arrow flying our way. He had us pinned down until he ran out of arrows, at which point we stormed down the hill intending to beat the snot out of him, but Emory was prepared for that and simply ran to the neighbors house and explained that two bullies were trying to beat him up for no reason at all.
When we got a bit older we discovered that the Potomac River and its wooded trails were a short two-mile walk away. We never tired of all the adventures offered by that wild place. And so a sustaining pattern was set. We loved to be outdoors doing things: hiking trails, building forts, swinging from vines, fishing, swimming. When we were old enough to read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn's adventures, we knew exactly where they were coming from. Our love of nature in general and the Potomac in particular never left us. Whenever I came back to Virginia in the summer we found time to get down to the river, usually to fish, kayaking and wading it's waters for hours. Even when Richard could no longer manage to paddle, I took him out on the Potomac in one of his kayaks. For the last two summers I biked down to the river to wade and cast for bass with his sons Rich and Mike. When we got home, we would share our adventures with Richard. I think it gladdened his heart that we were carrying on a tradition that he and I had established.
The Potomac also offered us the opportunity to row crew. During our early hikes to the river, we would often see the W-L crew rowing by. When I was a junior in high school, my best friend, Bob Fleming, convinced me to join the crew team. I have always loved the water and the river, so it was the perfect sport for me. And the coach was the only high school coach who didn't mind if his athletes had shoulder length hair. Richard joined the team the next year and wound up with a four-year scholarship to Rutgers based on his rowing prowess. In the 1980s he also helped Tom Chisnell coach the W-L team. Our younger brother Stephen also took up rowing: three years in high school, four at the University of Virginia, and represented the U.S.A. in the world championship lightweight races in 1979 and 1985, placing second in 1985. As an oarsmen, Richard was well-liked and respected by both his teammates and those he coached.
Richard was always an excellent athlete, excelling in both swimming and rowing in high school. In later years, he participated in triathlons, and took up soccer in his late 40s. Those who knew him as an athlete were impressed not only by his ability but by his spirit, which was competitive but never mean. What he lacked in soccer skills, he made up for in determination and endurance. One of his Green Team mates, bewildered by his non-stop persistence to get the ball asked him, "Richard, why do you play so hard?"
After he graduated college, Richard worked for the father of a childhood friend at Beddel's Furniture. Part of the job involved doing blind installations. Richard soon realized that this could be a fairly profitable business and started his own window treatment business, at which he worked until he was no longer able to do so. During these years he met and fell in love with Norys. When I first saw a picture of her, I commented on her beauty. Richard's response was that he wanted to watch her grow old. They married in 1981. The reception was at the Potomac Boat House, where we had all rowed in high school and where Richard and Stephen had both rowed after high school. Norys like the location, but didn't like the scruffy ballroom floor, so Richard sanded it down and refinished it with fresh varnish. It was a beautiful wedding with a beautiful bride and groom on a beautiful September day. For their honeymoon, they flew back to Arizona with me, took my car and toured northern Arizona for a week or so. From time to time, they would come for visits to Arizona and we could camp and fish and boat in some of its most beautiful places.
I married a few years later and by 1987, we were both parents, I to Jasmine and he to Rich Jr. Then came his Michael and Joya. We continued to visit each other over the years, often taking family vacations together. My girls always looked forward to spending time with Uncle Richard, Aunt Norys, and their cousins. Richard was a loving father, and would do anything for his boys.
He also proved to be an extremely loving and caring son to our father, whose health began to decline in the early 2000s. While in the hospital, our father contracted MRSA, an extremely contagious and persistent bacterial infection resistant to most antibiotics. Richard spent countless hours caring for our father, helping him basic bodily functions and massaging him to relieve his discomfort. Everyone who saw Richard caring for our father commented on the kindness and compassion he showed. Some even suggested that he might have missed his calling and should have become a nurse. As a result of the time and close care he offered our father, Richard himself contracted MRSA shortly after our father passed in December, 2006. It took many months and many series of antibiotics before Richard ridded himself of the symptoms of MRSA, but was told that MRSA never really goes away.
Two years later, in the spring of 2009, he discovered he had prostate cancer, and that it had already spread to his bones, liver, and bladder. Initially, the doctors gave him six months to live. Thus began the grueling fight against the cancer. Although he was often able to hold it at bay, it never went away, and continued to spread insidiously. It was difficult for Richard, who had always been so physically fit and active, to deal with the limitations imposed by the cancer and the subsequent heart attacks and strokes. At first, he was terrified, as would any of us be, but over the months and years he came to terms with the reality imposed by the cancer. He prayed for relief and hoped that relief would lead to more years of health, but in the end, the relief came, as it will to all of us, in death. He never talked about death, but in his last few months he developed a far away stare that made me think he could see it in his mind. Although he had always lived the life of a Christian, he had never made a formal commitment to Christianity until last Easter (2012) when he was baptized into the Catholic Church. In addition to the Church, Richard also found solace in the love and care that Norys offered.
Last summer, I came to Virginia for my niece Carolyn's high school graduation and to see Richard. He was doing fairly well and was able to swim a few laps; however, by the end of summer his health was again declining. In November, I and my daughters drove to Virginia to share Thanksgiving with Richard and Stephen and their families. Richard was weak but able to get around and even walk a quarter of a mile out to one of the overlooks at Great Falls, where we took some pictures, the last ones we have of our three families together. When it was time to leave, there were tears. We all knew we might not ever see Richard again.
At the beginning of this year, I told Norys about the Cancer Center of America, which specializes in hard to treat cancers. She took Richard to their center in Philadelphia in February. They focused on treating the cancer in his bones, which was causing the majority of the pain. He seemed better when he returned from Philadelphia, and we were all hopeful that the Cancer Center would be able to help him, but it was not to be. I decided I should come out to see Richard during my spring break, which coincided with Easter.
On Easter Sunday, Richard had to go to the hospital, and I spent the next three days by his bedside, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. I had hoped to get him out before I had to leave, but it turned into a 12 day stay. During my time there I was able to witness first hand how much of Norys's life was devoted to Richard. It was a moving testimony of true love, not the romantic kind, but the God kind as in "God is love." I am extremely grateful to her for all the love, support, and care she showed for Richard over the last four years and especially in the last few months.
Although it is hard to find anything positive in the kind of suffering Richard endured, I do think it strengthened him spiritually. Richard had his faults, as do all of us, but one of his greatest strengths was his graciousness, his ability to truly care for others and let them know that he cared. And that graciousness fully bloomed in the last few years. He, who could have been totally centered on his own suffering, often told me that he prayed for the health of me and my family, and hoped that we would never have to endure what he was going through. Whenever I talked with him, he would always ask about my girls and expressed real concern for them. Both girls felt his love deeply and are grieved at his passing. As his body declined, the beautiful spirit that he truly is became manifest. Those of us who knew and loved him have been blessed. He was a gift to all us. In this time of sorrow, we need to keep that blessing in mind.
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Frank & Ute Anderheggen posted a condolence
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Dear Nory and Family, Today we heard about your lost. We lived only one year (2010/2011) at Saulty Drive but it was the best of 4 years we had in the states. When we look back at that time we see Richard playing soccer with the kids (Luca, Victoria, Jost, Jane, Jette) in the cul-de-sac or sitting at the front door petthe dog or the little cats. We will not forget Richards and our prayers are with you and your kids. Thank you for being your neighbor and we hope you feel the love of God to get strength during these difficult time. Frank, Ute, Victoria and Luca Anderheggen (Bonn/Germany)
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michael ficco and family posted a condolence
Sunday, May 19, 2013
sorry for your loss steve from john and i and my family
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Michael McCann posted a condolence
Saturday, May 18, 2013
I considered Richard my very best friend in childhood. He was a loyal friend, and was always there for me. We lost touch for most of my adulthood, but we recently reconnected. I'm so glad we did.
-Michael McCann
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Jean Cabellos posted a condolence
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Rich was a person that made everyone around him happy. He was always very upbeat and happy. It was a pleasure seeing and talking to him at our Sunday morning soccer games. We miss him on and off the field.
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Eivind Bjerke posted a condolence
Friday, May 17, 2013
Eivind Bjerke purchased flowers (Exquisite Tribute Standing Spray)
Nora and Family, With our deepest sympathy, we wish you comfort and prayer during this difficult time. Much Love from Eivind and Hans Salon and staff
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Les Carver posted a condolence
Friday, May 17, 2013
Richard was a humble, cheerful teammate and friend. We met and played together on the LC United soccer team for many seasons. Whether you were on his team or not, he was your friend. He always pushed himself on the field and off and through his example led us along. We miss Richard and will not forget the many different ways he has had a positive impact on us. He is truly a special person.
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Jerry Palmer posted a condolence
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Richard would call on a lazy summer afternoon, 95 degrees and 100 percent humidity and convince me that it was a great day for as many people as he could wrangle up to go out and play. And he'd show up, but he could only play for about 5 minutes. Then he'd cheer us all on and seemed happy just to be there with us. And I was glad to have him there. He was a good friend, a good teammate, and a good person. We'll miss you.
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Pamela Halter Macknet posted a condolence
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Rich's mother, Doris, was my father sister. We called him Richie. Unfortunately our families went different ways. I remember going to our swim club with Chris, Richie and Stephen or it may have been the beach. So many years ago. They were the handsomest cousins and very athletic. That is in our Halter genes. I am the oldest cousin and Richie isn't here with us physically but will always be in my heart. I love the pictures posted of him. I am so sorry for his family who will not have him. It's hard to let go. My sympathies are with everyone who will miss him terribly.
Thanks to Stephen we have been able to get back in touch. May he rest in peace.
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Betty Hernandez posted a condolence
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Betty Hernandez purchased flowers (Exquisite Tribute Standing Spray)
Words cannot express our sorrow for your loss. We are deeply saddened by Richard's passing. Take confort in knowing that he is no longer suffering. You are in our thoughts and prayers. Arturo & Betty
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Jim Fleming, Jeff City, MO lit a candle
Thursday, May 16, 2013
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To Richard's family and his bro Steve: My sorrow and sympathies for your deep loss; temporary though, thanks to Him.
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Arturo and Betty Hernandez posted a condolence
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Dear Noris and family: Words cannot express our sorrow for Richard's untimely death. We hope that you find confort in knowing that he is no longer suffering and he is resting in peace next to our Holy Father. Richard was lucky to have you on his side taking care of him up to the last moment. Think of all the memories you share and the knowledge of how important you were to him. May your faith in God give you the strength to carry on each day and his passing. Arturo and I will keep you and your family in our prayers. May God bless you all always.
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Maria Voultsides posted a condolence
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Dear Steve, Chris, Norys and family: Tom and I can't express how sorry we are about the loss of Richard. We have so many wonderful memories of him, including rowing and other adventures, and share your heartbreak that his time on earth with family and friends was too short. Please know that we are keeping you all in our thoughts. Love, Maria & Tom
Adams-Green Funeral Home & Crematory
721 Elden Street | Herndon, VA 20170
P: (703) 437-1764 or (703) 471-4090 | E: bill@adamsgreen.com
