Richard treated me like a son, like I was part of his family. And I thought of him as my 2nd father. He was so good to me. But, that's how Richard treated everyone, like they were family. He always tried to be good to everyone he met, whether it was at the grocery store or at the golf course. He always showed people the love of Jesus Christ by his example.

Richard loved his family. He and Mary had a marriage that many people admired and looked up to. He used to love to tell me the story about how he and Mary met, at a New Year's Eve party. He always said that when he looked across the room and saw Mary he knew that's the one he wanted for his wife. He told me many times, " Steve I don't know how I got so lucky. How a beautiful women like that would want a scrawny, short, little guy like me. What ever did she see in me?" Well, Richard, we all know what she saw in you, a loving, caring sincere, thoughtful person, who would be a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and friend.

Richard loved his children and grandchildren. He was always so proud of their accomplishments. He loved it when someone would say, " Aren't you Rhett's father?" or "Aren't you Celeste's dad, or Carrie's or Michelle's father?" Richard always put his family before himself and he worked hard to see that they had what they needed.

But, more than anything else, Richard Priode loved the church. He loved the Ault Road church. He loved God and he lived a faithful Christian life. We always talk about letting others see Jesus in us. Well, you could see Jesus in Richard's life for sure. He loved being an elder, and I can tell you this much: As long as Richard Priode was an elder, the truth would be taught. Richard was also a great encourager. He always wanted other people to live their lives for the Lord and he tried to encourage them by his example; the things he said and did in life. He loved attending the church services and seeing his brothers and sisters in Christ. And no matter how hard a day he had at work, he loved to fellowship, and as he said " get his spiritual battery recharged with the people of God." I heard someone once say this about Richard. Richard never has any fun. His whole life is the church. Everything he does revolves around the church. WOW, what a great compliment. Isn't that what the Bible teaches us in Matt. 6:33 and Eccl. 12:13. To seek the kingdom of God first and to fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. That was Richard. God and the church came before anything else in life.

There were times in his life that he would make fun of his height because he was short. And we would joke around with him and give him a hard time about it. But I want everyone to know that I have never met a bigger man than Richard Priode. I bet a lot of people feel the same way. He was what a Christian should be. A great example of Christ.

Richard was also very outgoing and he loved to joke around. He had a great sense of humor. Whether it was dressing up as Peter, Paul and Mary at a Halloween party or just acting silly sometimes. He loved people and because he was so much fun to be around, he had many, many friends. We would be playing golf and would run into a stranger on the course and it always turned out that Richard would know them from 20-30 years ago. He had so many friends and people who loved him.

Richard was a wonderful song leader and I used to love it when he led singing. One thing he did from time to time was that after he led a song and someone would stand and begin to lead a prayer, Richard wouldn't just sit down, but instead he would kneel down because that's how much reverence he had for God. Well, Richard's not kneeling in front of us anymore, but instead in front of the Great I Am. Can you imagine the look on his face when God says to him,"Richard Priode, Great is thy faithfulness. Well Done, thy Good and Faithful Servant. Enter into the joys of the everlasting kingdom of heaven." As I was preparing for Richard's service, I started thinking about the angel of the Lord. I really do believe that when the Lord told one of his angels to go help Richard cross over the river of death, that that angel must have counted it a great honor to help one of the greatest servants of all. We're all going to miss Richard. I know I will and have already since his death, because he did treat me just like a son and was so good to me. But let us remember that Richard is now with the Lord because his whole life was about serving God. I hope we all can live our lives in a way like Richard did, that we'll all meet again around the throne of God.