My most vivid memory of Richard was Christmas Day when he was 12 years old (1988). It always seemed to me that Richard was born with a childhood plan to learn everything possible about the the technology of the mid-20th century. As a very young boy his curiosity about the gadgets he encountered was obvious. I saw him take things apart to see how they were constructed and to my amazement, he usually reassembled the parts so that the object still functioned as intended. Repairing broken technology and making improvements to existing gadgets came naturally to him. In those Stone Age days (the 1980’s) it wasn’t possible to watch a YouTube video in order to learn how to replace the belt on your cassette recorder. The practical way to learn was to just jump into the task, disassemble the unit, be careful and pay close attention to every detail. I use the verb “jump” because Richard did not hesitate to tackle a new technological challenge. The possibilities excited him and his excitement was a powerful force. Hesitation, caution and fear appeared to be missing from his personality. His confidence in his abilities was unwavering, and I don’t think I ever saw him with a truly failed experiment.

He did so much and learned so much that he must have made some mistakes over the years. How else do humans learn if not by making mistakes? I was never with him when he made an error, but I’m sure he would not have been crest-fallen by the experience. His sense of humor and adventure saved him. If Richard’s projects ever resulted in disappointment, I never saw him bewildered or disheartened. His most likely reaction would be laughter. He knew some of his experiments would be judged as close to absurd and in fact some had a small chance of being successful. He also knew that a failure was a chance to learn something new, and he was very eager to learn as much as he could.

On Christmas Day 1988, Richard’s most exciting Christmas gift was a real rocket. He was so excited! Before he tested it he had to assemble it. Did he study the assembly instructions at length? I doubt it, but I wasn’t paying enough attention to really know. I think his natural inclination would be to dive into the task and trust his innate abilities to put it together correctly.

With the rocket ready to go, we made the short drive to the field just south of Quilcene Public School were it would be safe to launch a rocket. I don’t trust my memory for every detail, but I remember the rocket being bright red and at least 16” tall. Richard set up the launch pad and some minor operational bug prevented an immediate take-off. No problemo! Richard made some adjustments and the rocket shot into the misty winter sky, reaching great heights before plunging back to earth. Richard was eager to sent the rocket up into the sky once more so we watched a second successful launch. Richard’s eyes were sparkling with excitement, as he was running about in that field captivated by the thrill of launching his Christmas rocket. It was an explosion of happiness, that I’ll never forget.

Further reminiscing about Richard, I remember that he was the most affectionate child I had ever encountered. My life experience had not prepared me. In my family of origin, kids did not crash through the front door and run up to adults to hug them with the full force of their delight. I remember many moments when Richard did exactly that. I was not prepared to see and feel so much explosive joy in a greeting. I remember those childhood hugs with Richard and I remember a couple months ago, the last time he and I hugged and he brought his full presence and life to that hug. What a great feeling!

Richard was an all-around super friendly guy and GREAT father. I’ll never forget Quince’s Ghostbuster costume one year. The rest of the kids had these simple costumes, and then Quince showed up at our house with this amazing lit-up, sound-emitting Ghostbuster backpack that Richard had made from scratch. Such a lucky kid with such a cool dad! Richard will be greatly missed by his community. I hope that his family will be sustained with memories for their precious years together. Our hearts are with you all ❤️❤️

So many memories  when you know some since your 12 but one of my absolute memories is after  I had my girls and Richard and Amanda had Q he would always  read books to the kids until they  said no more, which was normally alot of books later.

Richard was always there to entertain  and play with the kids.  He was always up for their crazy ideas like bottle rockets in the back yard, climbing on the garage, or watching really bad movies and making up commentary  through the whole things making the kids laugh.

He will be missed by so many.

As my family was often heading different directions after rehearsal, I would sometimes find myself carless in need of a ride to my mom’s house in Port Angeles. Anyone going to Port Angeles and wouldn’t mind deviating 1.6 miles up Monroe Rd? Richard volunteered. “Of course he did,” said Amanda when I told her this story at his celebration. He did warn me, “I’m the last to leave, though.” I am now ever so thankful for those intermittent car rides. The first time I rode in his Leaf, I told him that we used to have two Leafs (or is it Leaves?) and we used to charge at Nikola engineering when we took the kids to the orthodontist. “That’s where I work!” he said. And then the conversation turned to sound. Just…sound. I was directed to the podcast “Twenty Thousand Hertz.” I didn’t listen until very recently. And you know what? Twelve minutes about the story of the NBC chimes or 29 minutes about the Seinfeld theme song is actually quite fascinating. He was right.

I was new to the area and Richard really made me feel like an essential part of the crew and the band. As an oboist I was hesitant about performing outdoors for the Santa concert, but Richard offered to find me a plastic clarinet to play. I should have taken him up on that.

One of my earliest memories of Richard was when we served on the Band Board together always meeting at Nicola Broadband on Washington Street in Sequim.  He had great ideas and all I could think was wow, this young whipper snapper is too dang smart!  And, indeed, he was just that, but he never made you feel like your ideas were any less important.  He was respectful and understanding when explaining something to us ‘old’ folks!  He was always available and could be counted on to fix or figure out a solution for what had to be done.  I know he never complained about MY complaining about the band room temperature.

I’ll always remember Richard as the man who answered all the questions about being married, fatherhood, and technology I never asked. I remember him giving me a book about the insanity of being a new parent with a knowing smile and a chuckle. I’ll miss that laugh of his, how infectious it was and easy to laugh with him. He was always welcoming and always happy to have company.

When Richard asked “How are you?” he asked sincerely from his heart.  He truly cared about others and helped whenever needed. What a great person!!

Uncle Richard always made the biggest and tastiest pancakes!

Uncle Richard would read funny pidgeon books to me.

1. I had the good fortune of getting to know Richard as a twenty something college graduate returning to his hometown looking for his next step in life.
   It is little surprise Rich would make good use of the interval to hone his skills at Bonny’s Bakery, a cherished landmark in those years and well remembered still.  He was not the run of the mill coworker, robotics even then.
   My husband Simon thoroughly enjoyed playing trumpet in the Sequim City Band so one day suggested to Richard that he consider joining. No further prompting needed , Rich quickly became part of the heart of the band.The fondest memories are the Greenway family and friends Fourth of July gatherings in Quilcene. We were always grateful to be included. However, true to form advised we were invited until we were uninvited.
   I chuckle still.
   Tragically departed far too early, a big footprint lives on.

After the Rehearsal Hall Expansion was completed by the contractor, Richard arrived with the electronic equipment – big screen TV’s, speakers, support electronics. He not only delivered but was hands-on during the installation. He had a vision for how the facility could be best used and future possibilities requiring adequate electrical wiring.

One of my early memories of Richard after band camp was that after walking down the hill with me, we grew to like each other more and more. One day, we talked so long at the corner of Chase and W 12th St that we got tired and sat on the ground near a signpost. He pulled me into his lap and kissed me. It would have been delightful, except that approximately two seconds later, my mother and half a dozen middle-aged teachers in her walking group rounded the corner of Jefferson and caught me in Richard’s lap having my first kiss, and they gaily called out, “Hey, Becky!” I did not die of embarrassment (although it felt like a near thing at the time), and after that, Richard was my first boyfriend for a year and a half.

I remember his taste in media–I sat through a fair share of Red Dwarf with him.

We played a trumpet/French horn duet at the Solo & Ensemble Festival. If I remember rightly, he named his French horn Percy.

He had scars on his legs from the oyster shells in Quilcene.

When money was tight, and I wasn’t going to get a pumpkin for Halloween, Richard got me a pumpkin.

Later, almost all the years of my adult life, he would text or message or send a card or say it in person on May 14th: “Happy birthday!”

Richard and I weren’t close post-high school, but he was out there in the community, smiling, waving, or wishing me well as we saw each other. He always wanted me to pick up that trumpet again.

The last time I saw Richard was last year near the holidays. I was in Blackbird Café buying a drink and a gift card for someone. I peripherally saw the next car pull up to the drive-through, then a voice bellowed through the window, startling me, the baristas, and the patrons: “I’m buying her drink!” And we proceeded to have a yelled conversation through the drive-through window, which no doubt irritated the heck out of everyone else. I asked about his boys, Amanda, and the band, and he asked what I’d been doing, and I’m not certain we heard half of what the other said because of the intervening acoustics and noise, but we were delighted in this chance meeting (and possibly at annoying everyone else with our jovial exchange

I have many stories about Richard, but what sticks out in my mind is how good of a father he was. He was always intensely devoted to his kids, and I cannot recall a moment when he was not. One memory that sticks out probably doesn’t sound that way, but was I think a testament to his investment in his kid. I remember Q being very young, maybe 1.5-2, and Richard allowed him to try wasabi for the first time. Q was not impressed, vocally so. But Richard was always keen to provide his kids new experiences, and to let them decide for themselves which ones they liked and which they didn’t. He did not impose his own view of the world upon them, but just enjoyed seeing the world from their perspective.

My greatest memory of Richard is him dragging myself and KEK along at the March ’24 field art concert for tear down and helping him move all the stage supplies and back to the James. He continued to push us into the same projects together creating one of the best friendships I’ve ever had.

Some of my favorite memories of that time were playing hide and seek in the basement with Chris, Richard and Kevin with the fog machine and the strobe light. It seemed like you were all alone and then suddenly Richard would come out of nowhere!

I loved our camping trip one year at Klahowya, and I caught several moments there that I will forever cherish. Amanda cradling baby Jaxson, and we must of broke out into song, which was not uncommon. You always had a smile on your face, calmness and patience I wish I could exude more often than not.

I also recall when you and Brad got the wise idea to have delivered, from the free ads on Craigslist, a 2 huge spools and 2 huge tires…And how you and the kids rolled the spool in the yard. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. It was so funny, though.

Not to mention, our annual meeting on the Discovery Trail to watch the fireworks over the water, which was always magical. We truly value those precious memories and time together.

There are too many to list out here – From reading manga/watching movies in the basement to mIRC chats, to Prom, visiting AZ, playing WoW together, etc etc.  You were one hell of a dad, husband, and friend and didn’t hesitate to send more magnetic poetry when my daughter started to put together horrifying sentences (thanks for that 😉  )

One meeting, I asked Richard what kinds of ferrite cores they used in their very high power amps. I had been researching cores for a special project, and since I respected Richard’s knowledge, and practical application, I knew he would have good answers. The very next meeting, he gave me a fully wound high frequency transformer to use for evaluation and my education. I hadn’t asked for anything, but as was typical of Richard, he just went ahead and went over the top to help a friend, and answer questions.  There are so many examples of Richard just always being do damn GOOD that it is hard to try and narrow it down to an example or two. I will miss him, and all who knew him will miss him, and the world will be a lesser place without him.

Richard has been highly respectable wherever he goes for advices or supports and whomever he works and communicates with in the professional area. Every time when he comes to Asia, we go with each other. He’s smart and sharp; proactive and diligent.

What has really amazed me is, he’s not only professional in the area where he spends the most time with but also fast-learning and adaptable in diversified aspects, which enables him ready to support others at any time. I still remember how he builds up a system by reading the entire manual book. Unbelievable.

Yeah, humor with sarcasm was mentioned by many people. I’d say observant cannot be missed when we talk or joke about that. 🙂

I’m sure there are other better stories but this is what I can think of now. The 1st time when Richard came all the way to Taiwan, which was his Nth trip here, all he did was trying to find difference among different cuisine shows on the flight’s channel. They all looked almost the same, with everyone saying out loud the same words “wow”, “amazing”, “unbelievable” and so on. (This joke can probably be better understood by Asians.)

Getting engaged and going to Tiffany’s in the city to get the engagement/wedding ring. Chatting about technology and roaming around the city.

Too many great memories, where to even start…

In Port Townsend, as ~5 year-olds, he showed me how to catch garter snakes.

In Quilcene, epic sand castle building followed by roman candle wars; epic badminton games where the only way to score a point was to draw the other’s blood.

In Maple Ridge, filling the hot tub with water balloons (my dad was not impressed).

In Port Angeles, fogging out the basement, turning on the strobe light, and having pillow fights; climbing the roof to watch across the straight and see the Canada Day fireworks from Victoria; climbing trees so high they couldn’t support him, causing him to fall and take me out too on his way down; somehow deciding that snorting pixie stix was a good idea (it wasn’t).

In Seaview, fun with gummi bears and lots of kite flying.

In Brooklyn, helping deliver baby goats; torching the old henhouse.

In Utah, cooking my first Thanksgiving turkey.