David Richards
courtesy photo
David Richards
RONAN – David W. Hassan Richards, age 51, passed away peacefully at 6:28 a.m. on Nov. 28, 2016, with his mom at his side, from complication of MS and pneumonia at St. Luke Community Hospital. He was born on Sept. 20, 1965, at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.
He lived in Clinton, during most of his childhood and attended Hellgate High School in Missoula. He was on the Hellgate Debate team and made Who’s Who of American High School Students for three years (1980-1983).
David was a cook/chef by profession and worked in a lot of different places. He cooked at Hillside Manor Nursing Home, helped open Jaker’s Restaurant and cooked and managed the Oxford Café for several years. He also worked in several restaurants in Ronan and Polson and had a Missoulian paper route in the Ronan rural area. He was the cook at the Healing Lodge in Spokane and was instrumental in getting their first pow-wow and sweat lodge started.
David also worked in St. Ignatius when they built the Longhouse. He spotted the logs and did a lot of the finish work inside.
David left Spokane in 2003 and moved back to Ronan where he cooked at the Ronan Café. He became disabled in 2004 from severe asthma. In 2010 he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and it was the worst type. By the time it was discovered, it had progressed horribly. He fought a long and hard battle and he did it with fortitude and grace.
David was the kind of man who always saw his cup as half full. He kept a positive attitude and his sense of humor right up to the end, in spite of the terrible pain and suffering that he endured.
David’s grandparents, Ranold and Dede Armstrong; his uncle, John Armstrong; his aunt, Dawna Armstrong; his stepfather, Gary Hansen; his paternal grandmother, Mae Bonner; and his uncle, Les Richards all precede him in death.
David is survived by his mother and stepfather Linda and Gary Ramsey of Ronan; his father and stepmother Gerald and Connie Richards of Clinton; brothers, Jerry Richards, Sr. of Clinton, Che’ (Neona) Hassan of Missoula, Daryl Stenstrom of Ronan, Don Simms of Atlanta, Georgia, Omar and Kila (Rose) Hassan of Missoula, Eric and Jody (Shelly) Ramsey of Moses Lake, Washington; his sisters, Jamila James of Arlee, Alicia Gauthier of Bismarck, North Dakota, and Leeann (John) Baldwin of Hermiston, Oregon; uncles, Mike (Marg) and Dallas Armstrong of Polson; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and cousins that he loved dearly. He is also survived by his loving companion Julie Adams and a very special friend Verbie Ellis.
The family would like to thank the doctors, nurses, paramedics and EMTs that gave David such good care at both St. Luke Hospital and Kalispell Regional Medical Center. The compassion and tender care he received at St. Luke’s in his final hours is greatly appreciated.
A memorial service for David will be held on Jan. 28, 2017, at 2 p.m. at the Arlee Community Center on Pow-Wow Road in Arlee. Memories and condolences may be sent to the family at: www.shriderthompson.com. Arrangements are under the direction of Shrider–Thompson Funeral Home.
