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Grandma wrote:
When I was in Bend, Oregon, with Leigh and he was to be put in Branch President, I know my dear husband, Forest, and Thaddeus were there rejoicing that Leigh was being given that calling. [Thaddeus was Leigh and Luella's son who died 27 May 1945 at age 16 from pneumonia. Penicillin was available, but there was no doctor in St. Johns at that time to prescribe it.] At times I have felt that my father and mother were with me. I am thankful for these visitations. They are a comfort to me, and I try to get the message they bring me. Life has to go on without our loved ones; the heart aches.
We all did all we could to comfort Mae and children [after Forest died]. On Laddie's first birthday after his father died, I asked them to dinner, and while I was making pies, I know Forest was there with me. I felt his presence and heard him say so plain that he was glad I was being a comfort to Mae and hers. It wasn't imagination - I heard him say it plain. It made me know more than ever that though they are dead, they are near, as I have felt many times the presence of my dear departed ones.
For many years, when I could go to the Temple, I felt like Moroni and Forest were with me as I sat in the chapel service, and I often felt that Moroni was near to guide ;me. I needed him so much.
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back: Ramona, Thaddeus
front: Luella and Leigh with Rodney
When my baby Elinor, died, I know she came back to comfort me, and how my empty arms ached for my baby. When Jay and
Mable's little girl, Autumn, died in Mesa, I didn't hear about it until I went to Sunday School, and when I heard it, that girl was a grown girl standing beside me. I didn't see her, but I knew she was there. She was only two or three years old [2 years and 10 months], but her spirit was a grown girl.
Dwyn remembers:
When I was a very little girl, probably about four or five years old, I was playing outside on the east side of Grandma's house in the screened porch when Thaddeus stopped by. My toy was a circular device that had little squares of the alphabet set in a grove around the edge. In the center was a straight groove where you could move the squares to make words. He was so kind and smiled and laughed and stopped and helped me spell names. Very probably his name and that's what makes it easy to remember him. He would have been about fourteen.
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St. Johns Herald-Observer
VOLUME VIII
St. Johns, Arizona
Saturday, JUNE 2, 1945
Funeral Services Held May 28 For Thaddeus Richey
Thaddeus Richey, 16-year-old son of Leigh and Luella Richey, died Sunday, May 27, at Springerville, Arizona. He had been sick since Saturday with pneumonia. His parents rushed him to Springerville Sunday afternoon.
Funeral Services were held Monday, May 28, at 3:00 o'clock P.M. at the St. Johns Ward Chapel. Services were conducted by Bishop Carl A. Anderson. The High School Glee Club, of which Thaddeus was a member, furnished choral music, "A Nation's Prayer", (his favorite).
Lawrence P. Sherwood offered the opening prayer.
The Glee Club then sang, "Green Cathedral".
President Levi S. Udall was the first speaker.
Clara R. Sherwood sang the solo, "O Dry Those Tears".
Marion V. Gibbons was the second speaker and W. S. Hamblin was the concluding speaker.
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Tributes by Dewey Farr, Gilbert Udall, and Lawrence P. Sherwood.
The Glee Club then sang the closing Hymn, "O My Father".
Benediction was offered by Joy B. Patterson.
Internment was at the West Side Cemetery.
Hugh Richey dedicated the grave.
Thaddeus attended the El Monte High School at El Monte, California his Freshman year and completed his Sophomore year in St. Johns this spring. Thaddeus was an industrious reader and loved music. He spent his happiest hours playing musical instruments of many types.
This being their sixth child they have laid to rest. We wish to extend our deepest sympathy to his parents, his brother Rodney, and his two sisters, Ramona and Elsie.
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