Natty wrote:His family has been through a lot. I mean A LOT. In the past 3 years they've lost one son to a car wreck, the other son is confined to a wheelchair because of another wreck, and now Richard's passing. His surviving son, Richard Jr., has an amazing outlook on life and has shown incredible strength through everything he's been through. I had heard that Richard recently told friends he had his heart right with God. Sad news but that's good to know.
Here's what one of his friends said yesterday:
J Paul Jackson
23 hours ago
.
I awoke this morning to news that no one wants to hear. My good friend Richard Stafford, better known as "Mississippi", died after crashing his ultra-light plane late yesterday evening.
If you knew Richard you had to like him, and if you didn't, you probably could find the reason by simply looking in the mirror. He seemed to have a perpetual smile upon his face, a can-do attitude toward any challenge, and a sense of humor that was infectious. He was also the ultimate prankster, something I can ruefully say from personal experience. If you were in camp with Richard, you slept with one eye open, because you never knew when he would strike!
The most remarkable thing of all about Richard was his perseverance, not only as a worker, but also as a human being. As his friend I know that Richard would want me to speak candidly about his life. Over the last several years he suffered terrible losses, including divorce, the death of one son and the permanent injury of another. He had also battled the personal demons of depression and addiction. Yet through all of that Richard persevered.
Just a few months ago Richard had voluntarily entered a rehabilitation facility and found sobriety. He came out twenty pounds lighter and looking like a new person. Always a man of faith in God, he was quick to give Him the credit for his change, and he even spoke in church on the eve of his death giving his testimony before others. He also had become active in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, and he actually had just left an AA meeting to go fly his plane.
I spoke with Richard for the last time just a few days ago. During our conversation he told me about all the things that were going right in his life, and about how God had blessed him by meeting me and subsequently my friend Drew Keeth and the guys at Honey Brake. He told me that for the first time in a while he was really proud of himself. That he wanted people to know him for who truly he was, and not some tragic alcoholic.
Over the last few years Richard taught me so much about so many things. About working in TV, about hunting, and most importantly, about life in general. I will miss him so badly, and I can hardly write this right now for the tears in my eyes. However, as a Christian I have faith that in His infinite wisdom God knew that it was time to take Richard home. I am so proud of Richard for becoming the man that he wanted to be, and I am thankful that God called him home at this point in his life and not earlier.
Richard ended that last conversation with me by telling me that he loved me. I told him that I loved him, too, and as I sit here with this hole in heart I am only now beginning to realize just how truthfully those words were. Rest in Peace, Richard Stafford, you will be sorely missed. — with Richard Stafford and 5 others.