Richard L. Stauder
Nov 17, 1945 - Mar 10, 2017
Richard's Story
INDIANOLA - Richard L. Stauder, 71, of Indianola, passed away at 8:02 p.m. Friday, March 10, 2017, at the Decatur Memorial Hospital, Decatur.
Richard was born Nov. 17, 1945, in Herrin, to John R. and Mary E. Newton Stauder. Surviving are: one son, Jonathan M. Stauder of Indianola; one brother, Bob E. (Lois) Stauder of Tulsa, Okla.; and one sister, Joyce Ann Rinella of Paducah, Ky. He was preceded in death by his parents.
Richard was a biology, English, and French teacher at Jamaica High School for 25 years. He liked to exhibit poultry. He loved to breed dogs and go to dog shows. He was especially proud of his pure bred miniature Pinschers. He enjoyed horseback riding and traveling.
Funeral services: 10 a.m. Thursday, March 16, 2017, at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church, 312 West Elm Street, Urbana, IL with Father James Ellison officiating. Burial to follow in Herrin City Cemetery, Herrin. Memorials to the church. Robison Chapel, Catlin, is handling the arrangements. Online condolences at
www.robisonchapel.com.
Published on March 11, 2017 in Commercial News
RICHARD
Some days just don’t turn out
like you expect. I was going to play the
piano for our chapel service at the nursing home. First time I’ve been for quite a while. I had some medical issues, a long winter and
there was a new lady who played the piano.
She seemed to be enjoying it so I backed off to let her have the
blessing. Now she has moved on, so I’m
trying to resume the blessing. I love
playing along with four guys on guitars, love the awesome feeling to be a part
of a group playing our Lord’s music.
An old friend from high school
has died. We’ve not been in touch much since
graduation, just a message here and there.
But he was special. He was one of
those unique totally memorable personalities.
Many thoughts of him have invaded my mind since I learned of his death. His funeral was this morning in Urbana. They were bringing him to be buried at Herrin
City Cemetery. Graveside service was to
be around 3 p.m. and a mutual friend Rev. Ralph Brandon was to speak. I was supposed to be at the chapel service at
2 p.m. Since it was my first time back
at the nursing home I hated to cancel. I
hoped to be out of the nursing home service and back over to the graveyard at
least before the graveside service was over.
I don’t walk good on uneven/dirt/grass anyway so I planned to stay in
the van, roll down the window and watch and listen from wherever I could park.
My memories of Richard begin as
a freshman at Herrin Township High School.
We shared many classes and common interests. Love of biology found him in the high school
green house after school, waiting for the bus.
My Uncle Frank lived behind Richard’s folks in Energy and I occasionally
visited both. Richard had a chicken coop
and rabbits and other ‘pets’ as well. He
loved horses too. I rode Uncle Frank’s
horse Flicka one day but that’s another story.
I know some thought of Richard and me as a couple but it never really
got that far. We were good friends and
he was a fun guy. One time Ralph invited
me to go with his Sunday School class on a picnic. It was at Fern Cliff and when we got there it
was a pretty nice gang, including Richard.
Lots of fun, but more remarkable when Richard (already near six feet
tall) climbed up on top of a picnic table and announced that he was running for
the position of dog catcher for Johnson County.
Of course, we clapped and laughed.
That was Richard.
Richard, Doris and Ralph
Our senior year, it was time for
prom. I hoped he would ask me. I so wanted to go with him in a suit and me in
a formal. I waited and waited. Finally one day he said, “Doriska, (that was
my Russian nickname from Richard) know what we should do while everyone else is
at the prom?” So I answered,
“What?” He said that we should get our
graduation caps and gowns early, put them on and parade up and down Park Avenue
that evening. That was Richard, funny
guy.
After we graduated he finally
asked me for a date. We went to a show
and he brought me home. I was standing
on the first step at our back door, he was on the ground. So at this point our heads were level. He leaned in and kissed me. Immediately, he straightened up and abruptly
turned and ran to the door of his truck.
He fell into the front sprawled across the seats and his feet hanging
out. I watched him for a while, then
gave up and went inside. Eventually, he
recovered, got up and left. Pretty much,
that was Richard. We both left for
school in the fall and lost contact for years to come.
I got to the cemetery about 3:30
p.m. The grave crew was already filling
in his grave. I was able to park as
close as possible to watch. I stayed
until the last pile of dirt was leveled and carefully pressed down on his
grave. The grave crew worked so
diligently. The hearse driver and the
Orthodox Father stood by throughout the burial process. It intrigued me as I sat in the van, waiting,
wishing I’d been more present in his life.
I’m glad his burial plot is at the edge of the cemetery, close to the
trees and bushes of the woods nearby. He
loved nature, living things, biology.
When the grave crew pulled out all the tools and cleared the area,
Father James bowed his head. He took out
the Holy Water and carefully poured it in the form of a cross on Richard’s
grave. He crossed himself and made a
final prayer. I watched from the van as
he turned and came toward his car. I
moved my van so the hearse could begin to make its way back to Urbana. I pulled over by the Father’s car hoping to
have a word.
He walked over and stood at my
window. I introduced myself as did
he. Conversation moved easily, both of
us comfortable with fond memories and thoughts of Richard. I reminisced about a teenage boy who was so
much fun. Father James describes an
adult man, dedicated teacher, lover of nature, caretaker of animals and special
dog breeder. He talked softly about a
man who never married, said he had a serious relationship but it had gone bad. He tells me that Richard had rescued two
young boys, the first his family had abandoned.
He pulled the second boy from another bad situation. He says that all Richard wanted was for them
to grow and to love each other. He
described the man who joined the St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church. He said Richard had chosen ‘Nicholas’ as his
own Russian name. He said Richard loved
people, always asking folks to visit and enjoyed being in a group. I asked Father James about Richard’s last
days. He described a sad downhill
journey of Parkinson’s and depression, and finally loss of contact with life as
we know it.
We can’t turn back the hands of
time. Typically we only learn from life
what we choose, but sometimes things just pop up and stare you in the face and
then we wish. I wish I’d spend less time
just laughing at and with our Richard and more time getting to know the real
guy inside. I think he was pretty
special.
Doris Grant Frey © March 16, 2017
