I agree with Jimmy's comments.... Tom was a really good friend to many. Though we grew apart somewhat as we started college, we spent much time together at Bellaire. He lived down the street so we walked to school every day...played a whole lot of basketball...listened to a lot of Rascals music... & talked for hours & hours - especially late at night.... One summer we climbed the highest mountain in Colorado (Long's Peak) & got caught & separated in a terrifying lightning storm above 14,000'. I still don't know how we got down. It seemed like we'd just played intramural basketball at UT when his death shocked everyone. I still miss him.
I never played basketball (with Tom or anyone else), but I remember Tom as the most humble, kindest, person I think I knew while at Bellaire. He was nice to everyone.
When we were seniors, Lee Sappington told Tom that I liked Dylan songs. In between classes he introduced himself and asked me what I thought a Dylan line meant. I told him I didn't know. That was our first conversation. I learned later he was more likely to ask a question than telling me what he thought or was thinking. It was like he was gathering information and playing poker.
One time Marty Halseth and I spent the night at Tom's house. Tom was a Bird Keeper. The Big Red Bird was in the backyard. Marty said very seriously that we were there to protect the mascot. He said students from rival schools wanted to kidnap it. Toms parents were out of town. Tom pulled out a big blender and made whiskey sours. We drank our fill. Then we went into the backyard and passed out guarding the Cardinal.
In the summer of 70 Tom found a stray puppy dog. Susan Guthrie and Tom gave the dog a bath. Tom gave the dog to me. I named her Maggie after the Rod Stewart song playing on the radio. She was a mix and looked like Benji. She lived about 16 years.
One time I remember Tom and I were passengers in the back of Gene Wiggins MG. Gene was at the wheel. It was late at night. The top was down and the car was moving fast. Tom pulled out a dollar bill and held it in his hand where it was blowing in the wind. Tom lost his grasp and the dollar blew away. I remember thinking that's one lost dollar. Not true. Tom jumped out of the car from the back while it was moving. He ran a ways, found the dollar somehow in the dark, and ran back to the car and jumped in. He had turned into Charlie Chaplin.
In the summer of 71 he was in a car accident. Friends that had gone to Bellaire visited him in the hospital. The accident ruined his knee. I knew at Bellaire he had been on the basketball team. He went back to UT at Austin. He would walk slowly between classes on crutches. It looked like he was in pain. I don't know how he did it.
The Funeral
I'm a flower on this hour. Smell the fragrance in the air. Now I know, now I know a flower really cares.
And so it goes, and so it goes, just like a faded, fated Texas Rose. TR, Tom Richmond, Texas Rose.
Jimmy Griffin
i miss him every day. i often wonder where his wanderlust would have taken him and how much basketball we would have played. It was always fun!
Bobby File
I agree with Jimmy's comments.... Tom was a really good friend to many. Though we grew apart somewhat as we started college, we spent much time together at Bellaire. He lived down the street so we walked to school every day...played a whole lot of basketball...listened to a lot of Rascals music... & talked for hours & hours - especially late at night.... One summer we climbed the highest mountain in Colorado (Long's Peak) & got caught & separated in a terrifying lightning storm above 14,000'. I still don't know how we got down. It seemed like we'd just played intramural basketball at UT when his death shocked everyone. I still miss him.
Donna Vogt (Carter)
I never played basketball (with Tom or anyone else), but I remember Tom as the most humble, kindest, person I think I knew while at Bellaire. He was nice to everyone.
Donna
Laurie Cunningham (Lonergan)
He was my mentor and I miss him every single day.
Mark Lee
When we were seniors, Lee Sappington told Tom that I liked Dylan songs. In between classes he introduced himself and asked me what I thought a Dylan line meant. I told him I didn't know. That was our first conversation. I learned later he was more likely to ask a question than telling me what he thought or was thinking. It was like he was gathering information and playing poker.
One time Marty Halseth and I spent the night at Tom's house. Tom was a Bird Keeper. The Big Red Bird was in the backyard. Marty said very seriously that we were there to protect the mascot. He said students from rival schools wanted to kidnap it. Toms parents were out of town. Tom pulled out a big blender and made whiskey sours. We drank our fill. Then we went into the backyard and passed out guarding the Cardinal.
In the summer of 70 Tom found a stray puppy dog. Susan Guthrie and Tom gave the dog a bath. Tom gave the dog to me. I named her Maggie after the Rod Stewart song playing on the radio. She was a mix and looked like Benji. She lived about 16 years.
One time I remember Tom and I were passengers in the back of Gene Wiggins MG. Gene was at the wheel. It was late at night. The top was down and the car was moving fast. Tom pulled out a dollar bill and held it in his hand where it was blowing in the wind. Tom lost his grasp and the dollar blew away. I remember thinking that's one lost dollar. Not true. Tom jumped out of the car from the back while it was moving. He ran a ways, found the dollar somehow in the dark, and ran back to the car and jumped in. He had turned into Charlie Chaplin.
In the summer of 71 he was in a car accident. Friends that had gone to Bellaire visited him in the hospital. The accident ruined his knee. I knew at Bellaire he had been on the basketball team. He went back to UT at Austin. He would walk slowly between classes on crutches. It looked like he was in pain. I don't know how he did it.
The Funeral
I'm a flower on this hour. Smell the fragrance in the air. Now I know, now I know a flower really cares.
And so it goes, and so it goes, just like a faded, fated Texas Rose. TR, Tom Richmond, Texas Rose.
David Hill
Very nicely worded..... Tom was indeed a special man... Dave Hill