This is about one person. How to tell others of him seems impossible for me at times, but it's not about me. Richard Sturtz was my idol at times, my best friend at others. Much more than I ever knew, he was someone who cared for others, in ways I'll never fully know, and never truly saw, until the last years of his life. I still regret how I must have seemed indifferent to all of what his friendship meant to me. Of not having some sense of how miserable I could be to live with, and yet knowing he let my inconsiderations be forgotten and kept being there as a friend. I think he knows now I dearly loved him, I hope he knows. I began by stating that this is about Richard, and in a way it is hard to separate myself from my friend and I apologize in advance if this seems self centered. The day Rick was killed in a car accident turned the world upside down for people who knew him. I'm no different, I was there, however, shortly after the crash, as was my wife Pam, who adored Rick, and so were Randy and Joan, close friends in our extended family ....

    I want to thank the paramedics for letting me sit next to him and hold his feet as the EMT's worked desperately to save him. I want to let the State Trooper who was doing CPR on Rick know I still think of him and how much I know he wanted to save Richard, even though he did not know my friend. I tell this to the reader as my way of acknowledging my respect for those who give of themselves as this Trooper did, Thank you. The real heroes among us are all too often maligned. Rick despised injustice. I will always have respect for those of you who put your lives and your hearts on the line for the rest of us. It took Rick's death for me to learn this in solid terms. I think I'm supposed to tell you this. It seems important.

    I feel very much that Rick was here as a teacher, No one could have known him long and not been drawn to his character. As long time friends, we also shared common quarters over the years between 1977 and 1981, and kidded about how we were going through a divorce at the time he relocated to Phoenix for a time... Make no mistake, we were single guys in our twenties searching for the ladies, but when you live with a person that long, it becomes a bond as close as any, for good or for bad, and we had both sides of that coin . A lesson learned of course, was that best of friends can drive each other batty, but true friendship remains long after , and I still learn from him. I admit to being most likely the more difficult of the two of us to live with, which further testifies to my friends character and .... i miss the debates.... backgammon, just plain being guys watching M*A*S*H every day after work, and especially his smile and sense of humor, and his love of never missing an opportunity to make someone else feel good about them self. I would gladly give anything I could to have him back, but this will not happen, and it can only be for a greater or important purpose to have to have him gone so soon. I guess he just graduated ahead of the rest of us and has a cooler job than ever. I no longer doubt that we live on in spiritual being after we die, another lesson he gave me... but the details are not important. It is a matter of faith with me, bolstered in concrete ways recently. Again, Rick was in passing the one who solidified this for me. I miss my friend, but I know he's still around. Yeah. I want to say more, but for now I just miss him a lot and wanted to tell people Rick Sturtz was someone very special and will always be .
Todd Schwen
08/22/1997