Born March 11, 1967, to Harold Eugene Ward and Jo Ann Belote in Houston, Texas. He died August 7, 2022, in Sugar Land, TX.

Richard attended high school at Lamar Consolidated High School and shortly after enlisted in the U.S. Army in October of 1985. Richard was in the 82nd Airborne Infantry division of the military. Richard absolutely loved the military through and through. Unfortunately, he did not get to pursue his dream of being a "LIFER" in the military. He was in a tragic boating accident losing his leg above the knee and nearly losing his life. We all have to agree that he probably had 9 lives as he was one of toughest guys we all knew, but with a HEART OF GOLD. Richard was honorably discharged in January 1988.

After the accident he was disabled, but still worked in the home remodeling business. Richard also volunteered at Rosenberg Animal Control, as anyone who knew him knew his true LOVE FOR ANIMALS!! More recently Richard worked at the V.A. hospital because he deeply cared about his military brothers and sisters and felt some comfort there as they understood his condition.

Richard was very much into helping others (even if he wasn't in a position to help he would). Richard literally gave the shirt off of his back to an older man that was total stranger whose shirt was tattered and torn when it was freezing out. (or maybe it was just giving him another opportunity to go shirtless !!) Nevertheless, it was in the middle of winter. He genuinely loved helping the less fortunate on a multitude of occasions. Last Christmas, he was downtown and delivered a tent, blankets, food, and dog food to a homeless person with a dog. He would deliver blankets and pillows to others as well.

Richard was also a sports fanatic, movie fanatic, huge history buff and a walking encyclopedia!! Rich was one of the smartest people we all knew. He knew stats, players, actors, pretty much everything!! Justin, Jake, Cameron, Nathan & the crew along with a slew of others had him on speed dial when they would get stumped by something and say, "let's call Rich, he will know the answer" and about 99.99 percent of the time he did. He really was highly intelligent!!

Richard had FIERCE LOVE FOR HIS FAMILY, HE ESPECIALLY HAD A SOFT PLACE IN HIS HEART FOR HIS MOTHER JO ANN AND DAD JOHN. He loved his siblings Dani, Micki, Janiece, Laurie, & Paul fiercely, but had an incredibly special love for his brother-in- law David, sister Janiece, and his nephews Justin, Jake, Josh & Sam and niece Rhiana (again a list too long to list). He also had VERY, VERY close relationships with SEVERAL cousins and friends!!! AGAIN, too many to list. He loved to call and talk for hours to whoever would listen!!!

We will NEVER forget how many times he would bring a dog home because "he just couldn't leave it there" a lot of times his parents or sister ending up with it and here he would come with another!!! He loved his pets Sugar Bear, Mackie, Lexi, and now leaves behind Sugar and Pig aka "Piggems". They will now be a part of the Snelling family and will have 5 dog siblings!!!

LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST-----we all have different paths and roads that our lives travel, Rich's path in November 2021 led him to re-dedicate his life to the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave his heart and life to God and was baptized in Jesus' name on November 21st, 2021. Thereafter, he was trying to make plans to start his own Church with one of his brothers in Christ, Mikey Luna. This Church was to be spirit filled and pet-friendly!! Only Rich could come up with such a concept.

We know his heart was always in the right place but as for Rich sometimes the paths would wander….we just want to thank Jesus Christ for shedding his blood on the cross and for his unwavering love for all of us. We also want to thank the Lord for touching us and influencing our lives and for our brother Richard. REST IN PEACE SOLDIER, until we all meet again! Love you Rich