I had known Ricky since 1st grade. We were the best of friends. I loved him and I still cherish all the great memories I have of him. He was truly one of kind with a very unique and special outlook on life. He made me laugh all the time. He and I spent a lot of time exploring downtown, crashing parties at the Sheraton Hotel, and hanging out at the bus stop observing homeless people. As I recall, we never planned anything, it just happened. We got into all kinds of interesting situations. I remember one time, Pam, Chuck, Ricky and I decided to take a cab from the Sheraton to the Hilton (about a 3 minute drive) and we got out and went to the elevators just to see who we could meet. There was a man with dark glasses in the elevator. I don't have a clue why he even spoke to us, but as it turned out, he was some sort of a government agent with secret agent stuff in his briefcase, and we followed him to his room and discussed worldly issues with him and he invited us to dinner and that's when we got creeped out and left....weird stuff. But there never was dull moment when Ricky was around. He did not want me to get married at 18. He wanted me to go to California with him and meet movie stars. So he boycotted my wedding but I ran into him at a grocery store right after the ceremony because I had to cash a check. He said "I'm always going to call you "Hames". We didn't see each other much after that. I know he moved to Redwood, California to live, got married, and actually met Jack Lemmon. The next time I heard about Ricky was that he had gotten sick and passed away. His memorial service was scheduled for, believe or not, the day of my 2nd wedding. I guess he was still trying to keep me from getting married! Ricky was a brilliant young man with a wonderful vocabulary, and a heart of gold. His life was cut too short, but I feel very lucky to have known him.
Don't you just love that hair! Ricky was one of the greatest guys I have ever known. It is a privilege to say he was my friend. What memories, what joy, what laughter comes to my heart when I think of him! In middle school he explained the meaning of the words of a popular song to me. "A midnight toker" was our topic of discussion in science class, no we weren't paying any attention to Mr. Ritchey. We went steady, a first for me, it lasted a whole 3 days! It was just the 6th grade so probably a pretty good length of time all things considered. But even after the breakup we remained great friends. When Ricky was around there was ALWAYS laughter and fun times. A few that come to mind...FHA conventions, fire extinguishers, skipping the convention to go to the movie in Houston, exploring Theresa Karl's Hotel Home together with a group of other friends, spray painting under the bridge at Rockwall Park for an annual photo. In my mind I can still see him smiling as if he is still here with us. His life ended way too soon and my heart still hurts when I think of him and how he is missed. Ricky was always a friend to everyone and that is why he was loved so much by so many.
Fall of 1995
Lori Hames (Heikkinen)
I had known Ricky since 1st grade. We were the best of friends. I loved him and I still cherish all the great memories I have of him. He was truly one of kind with a very unique and special outlook on life. He made me laugh all the time. He and I spent a lot of time exploring downtown, crashing parties at the Sheraton Hotel, and hanging out at the bus stop observing homeless people. As I recall, we never planned anything, it just happened. We got into all kinds of interesting situations. I remember one time, Pam, Chuck, Ricky and I decided to take a cab from the Sheraton to the Hilton (about a 3 minute drive) and we got out and went to the elevators just to see who we could meet. There was a man with dark glasses in the elevator. I don't have a clue why he even spoke to us, but as it turned out, he was some sort of a government agent with secret agent stuff in his briefcase, and we followed him to his room and discussed worldly issues with him and he invited us to dinner and that's when we got creeped out and left....weird stuff. But there never was dull moment when Ricky was around. He did not want me to get married at 18. He wanted me to go to California with him and meet movie stars. So he boycotted my wedding but I ran into him at a grocery store right after the ceremony because I had to cash a check. He said "I'm always going to call you "Hames". We didn't see each other much after that. I know he moved to Redwood, California to live, got married, and actually met Jack Lemmon. The next time I heard about Ricky was that he had gotten sick and passed away. His memorial service was scheduled for, believe or not, the day of my 2nd wedding. I guess he was still trying to keep me from getting married! Ricky was a brilliant young man with a wonderful vocabulary, and a heart of gold. His life was cut too short, but I feel very lucky to have known him.Rhonda Toney (Hamrick)
Don't you just love that hair! Ricky was one of the greatest guys I have ever known. It is a privilege to say he was my friend. What memories, what joy, what laughter comes to my heart when I think of him! In middle school he explained the meaning of the words of a popular song to me. "A midnight toker" was our topic of discussion in science class, no we weren't paying any attention to Mr. Ritchey. We went steady, a first for me, it lasted a whole 3 days! It was just the 6th grade so probably a pretty good length of time all things considered. But even after the breakup we remained great friends. When Ricky was around there was ALWAYS laughter and fun times. A few that come to mind...FHA conventions, fire extinguishers, skipping the convention to go to the movie in Houston, exploring Theresa Karl's Hotel Home together with a group of other friends, spray painting under the bridge at Rockwall Park for an annual photo. In my mind I can still see him smiling as if he is still here with us. His life ended way too soon and my heart still hurts when I think of him and how he is missed. Ricky was always a friend to everyone and that is why he was loved so much by so many.