My goodbye to Rich was delivered before a crowd of over 400 people 
packed into (and overflowing outside) the Hillside Church in 
Corte Madera, CA for his memorial service on Saturday August 22, 2009:


Rich Manfredonia and I met 14,815 days ago today. That was 
January 19, 1969. If I live another 14,000 days I doubt if I will 
ever meet anyone else quite like Rich.

We worked together on Wall Street when we met and we became 
instant and fast friends. That friendship altered the course of my 
life forever. You may not believe this, but in my early 20s I was a 
quiet and shy person with a receding personality. It was Richie that 
helped me come out of my shell and find who the real me was, for 
better or for worse.

In the summer of 1969 we went to the Woodstock Music Festival 
together. That proved to be one of the many highlights of the years 
we got to know each other and enjoyed each other. While we may 
have grown in different directions over the years, often not seeing 
each other for periods of time, the love and caring we had for each 
other was always there. He was always just a phone call away.

If you are here today then there is probably not very much you do 
not already know about the qualities of this extraordinary 
individual. I would like for today to be the beginning of the 
celebration of the life of an extraordinary man. When I was in the 
US Navy I used to have a cigarette lighter that had engraved on it 
the words, ?Live Fast, Love Hard and Die Young.??  That was 
Richie?s marching orders through this world with the addition of 
working hard. Richie completed his cycle of life too soon and left 
us behind with fond memories to last a lifetime. For some us he 
left us with two or three lifetimes worth of wonderful memories, 
tears of joy & sorrow and interwoven friendships.

Having Rich a part of my life for more than four decades has 
enriched me immeasurably. He is and always will be my best 
friend.  I must say there are many people that considered him to be 
their best friend. I have never known anyone else in my life that 
had so many people consider the same person to be their best 
friend. Why is that?

Richie had a heart of gold and was a giant of a man, packed into a 
small frame. He had an unrelenting commitment to his friends and 
family. When he considered you a friend and you needed a favor 
he was there in a heartbeat. When you needed to sort through your 
own thoughts and feelings by talking about what was going on in 
your life he would listen intently. He was totally supportive, but 
was not afraid to tell you when he thought you were going in the 
wrong direction or messing things up.

Richie touched the lives of countless people around him. There are 
countless stories of moments we shared together that will go to my 
grave with me. When I asked Joanne to marry me in 1969 she did 
not respond immediately. Richie and I were working together at 
EF Hutton & Company at the time. Days later, rather than telling 
me she would marry me, Joanne called Richie and told him that 
she would accept my offer without explaining herself.  When I got 
back to the office he wanted to know what was going on. He was 
the best man at that wedding in 1970. I remember his not wanting 
me to get married because it would irrevocably alter our 
relationship with my having unconditional love for someone other 
than him.

I remember the time he almost got Joanne and I evicted from our 
apartment in a duplex right after we got home from our 
honeymoon. In the middle of the night Richie came to the back of 
the house where we were living and began to serenade us, 
strumming a guitar, from the street making sure we heard him with 
our bedroom on the second floor. He also woke our landlord living 
downstairs. 

Richie was the reason I moved to CA after Joanne passed away in 
1975. Richie was also the best man at the wedding of Hiroko and I 
in 1984. Richie was always a true and committed friend. A part of 
me left with him the other day and a part of him will always reside 
in my heart and soul.

The numbers of lives that were touched by our man Richie are a 
testimony to the content of his heart and character. Just look at the 
numbers of people here today and the tears being shed. Wendy, we 
can only imagine what living with him must have been like for you 
when I think of how he rarely said no to anyone tugging at his time 
or presence. I know how much he valued your love and 
relationship and the relative semblance of stability it brought to his 
otherwise hectic life.

For Melissa, Megan and Shannon, I know how much he cherished 
each of you and I can only hope in time you can get to hear and 
learn about the man and the friend that I knew and loved and an 
aspect of his being you may not be completely familiar with right 
now. Girls, whenever life presents you with a challenge I suggest 
that you pause for a moment and reflect on what your father would 
have wanted you to do. I suggest he will always be with you and 
be there for you to offer advice and guidance if you only open your 
heart and listen for it.

I?d like to share with you the recollections of Tracy Bell. She was 
our neighbor when Rich and I lived together on Harvard Avenue, 
Mill Valley some 30 years ago. She has seen him only once in the 
past 25 years. She could not be here today, but shared some of her 
wonderful reflections with me in an email.

?He was a very special character on this planet!!~  He certainly 
made a lifelong impression on me. His laughter and smile are 
engraved on my life forever.

I send my love, hugs and best thoughts.  My heartfelt thanks go to 
the universe for having known Rich!!?

I second those emotions.

There are many different schools of thought in Buddhism. One of 
them believes you make this world a better place by making 
yourself a better person.  I submit to you that Richard Charles 
Manfredonia made this world a better place by just being here and 
by being himself; the person we all loved and cherished.

Rest in peace my brother. I love you.