Rich Stephens

Howdy.

 The Old Man here.

Today has been a rough day. It sucked, as a matter of fact. We went to the funeral of an old, dear friend of mine who I first met in the 1990s. His name is Richard Stephens, or Rich as we all called him. A great man was laid to rest today, and way before his time. I felt I needed to set down a few words about my friend Rich. 

In 1990, the fire department sent me through EMT-Basic school. My high school scholastic career was very middle of the road, mostly because high school was sports, girls, and parties to me, so it was a huge step for me to take this class.  Failure meant two things 1. The life sciences weren't for me. and 2. I would have to reimburse the money for books and tuition to the city. Number one had me pretty nervous, but the second one scared me way worse because that was money I didn't have at the time. It turns out that life sciences were pretty easy to me, even though I hated science all through school. I worked my ass off and passed the class and the National Registry tests and became a licensed EMT-Basic. What that meant was any medical call we ran would be run by yours truly, or any EMT who might be there. The more calls I ran, the more of the Mercy EMS crews I became familiar with and got to know. Rich was one of them.  In the EMS world, paramedic is the top level of pre-hospital care.  Rich was an outstanding paramedic, and a guy I looked up to. He was one of those medics who brought calm to the chaos. I wanted to be like Rich. 

Fast forward five years, and I am in paramedic school. I applied at Mercy EMS for a part time EMT position. I passed the written and practical tests, so all that was left was the interview. I walked in the room and saw a few familiar faces, but there in the middle of them all was Rich. He had this big smile on his face and I was instantly less nervous. The interview went well enough that I was hired. Rich was a Field Operations Supervisor as well as a Field Training Officer for paramedics. That meant he wouldn't be training me, but his partner, JB, was an EMT FTO so I got to do some ride outs with them. After I finished my training I got to work some shifts with Rich as his EMT. I had worked with some paramedics who questioned my every move, but he told me he trusted my judgment and do whatever I thought was best for the patient. Always do what's best for the patient became my creed. 

I finished paramedic school and passed all of the Registry tests, went through FTO training and took a full time position as a paramedic. By this time, Rich had left Mercy to begin his career as a police officer with the  Warr Acres Police Department. Since Warr Acres was in our response area, I still got to work with him on calls. I remember the first call with him as a new paramedic out on my own. He shook my hand, congratulated me, and told me he had no doubt I would be one of the best Mercy had. I came away walking a few feet off the ground. A couple of years later I became FOS and FTO, and Rich would stop by HQ at night and we would sit around and just shoot the shit. I always loved our chats. 

Right after 9/11 I left Mercy and took a job with a cardiology group doing mobile nuclear medicine. I had lost contact with Rich for a couple of years, but heard he was and investigator for the States Attorney's Office.  One day I was walking through the garage where the equipment was stored, and one of the nuclear techs said that another of those Mercy guys got hired on. I asked who it was and I was told this persons name was Richard. I couldn't for the life of me think of anyone at Mercy named Richard who would be coming to work there. Lo and behold, I walked into the office and there was Rich and that huge smile of his! He gave me a huge bear hug, like Rich could only do, and we sat down and played catch up. He told me how he got remarried and had two more kids, and he was going to work with us until he found his next LEO job. For the next few years I got to meet Tonya, Rachel, and Jacob. The first time he brought Andy in there I couldn't believe my eyes. Andy was about 3 or 4 when I started at Mercy, and now he was in high school and way bigger than I was. I remember thinking to myself about how happy Rich was with his family life, and it made me feel so good that my friend was enjoying his life. 

A few years later Rich took a job as a sheriffs deputy at Logan County Sheriffs Office and eventually became undersheriff. Since Baberino's folks lived out in the country in Logan County, they got to know Rich as well. I had gotten burned out with the cardiology group, quit, let my license lapse, and started doing some construction work. When I told him I was done with medicine, he just shrugged and said, "when you're done, you're done." I was expecting some sort of grilling, but he understood. I was glad he understood. The next thing I knew, a mutual friend told me Rich had gotten hired as the Chief of Police for the Union City Police Department. I remember thinking that they better have their shit together in Union City, because the Big Guy would have them whipped into shape in no time. He thrived at UCPD, and took that department to unprecedented heights. People flock to, and follow natural leaders. Rich was a natural leader. 

I had heard, around New Years, that Rich was in the ICU on a ventilator due to COVID-19. He had been in the ICU since Christmas Eve. Andy would tag him on Facebook so I could follow his progress, and finally around Groundhogs Day, he was well enough to be taken off of the vent.  He was on high flow oxygen during the day, and BiPap at night and was getting a little stronger every day. Then he started to spike a fever, and he got pneumonia.  One night his pulse ox and blood pressure bottomed out and he had to be put back on the vent. My friend died the next morning. 

When learning of the death of a loved one, you immediately begin to reminisce. We had a softball team at Mercy, and Rich was our first baseman. He wasn't exactly fleet of foot, so he would damn near have to hit one to the fence to get a single. I can still see those short stubby legs of his working like crazy, and the huge smile on his face when he was safe. I made a big batch of deer jerky one time, and I made half of it spicy, and the other half mild.  I brought a few bags of each up to HQ one day for everyone, and Rich just happened to be on duty. I had some paperwork to get caught up on, so while I was working on that I hear him yell at me to come to his office. I walked in there and his face was beet red, he was sweating profusely, and laughing that Rich laugh. I asked if he was OK, and he said that the jerky was the hottest and the best he had ever had, and he couldn't stop eating it. I just sat there laughing at him laughing and his beet red face. 

Rich was larger than life, and he had a heart of gold. They say a man's true wealth is measured by his love of family and friends, and their love of him. If that's true, Rich was a billionare. Thanks for being my friend, Rich. I'll miss you every day. Rest easy brother. We'll take it from here.