RICHARD SLAYTON JR.

Ruth Chaddock and Richard Slayton


Lara Heidtman-Smith, Richard, Ruth and Joel Heidtman


From Joel Heidtman...


Friends,

First, an emotional and sincere Thank You to those who have been remembering Richard Slayton.

I was specifically asked by Dottie to share the terrible news, since she knew that I would one of the people able to get the word out to as many people as possible. It was very difficult for me to spread this news, since though I know many of you, I do not know each and every single persons relationship with him. That is impossible. Hearing the news via e-mail must have been terrible, though I know in my heart Dottie did not want people to hear about this months later. Richard had a lot of friends, and they needed to know.

According to Dottie, Richard was outside working and when he returned to the house he did not feel well. She was unsure at the time of our conversation if Richard had suffered a coronary or an aneurism, but that seemed to be what the medics who arrived believed may be the case.

Richard was a great friend, a passionate and sincere believer in the fact that our common history truly is The Greatest Show on Earth, an extremely driven man, very fun and completely and 100% genuine. Richard Slayton was all of that... and a hundred times more.

For those of you that knew him, I sincerely share the pain of the untimely loss of a really great man. For those of you that unfortunately had not the opportunity to meet him I can only say this: ask one of us who did share our lives with him, and you will wish you had. We will be more that happy to tell you some great stories.

I said it that day and I will say it again: I loved him.

My solace comes from remembering our times on The Show, visits to his home in Idaho, reading e-mails from him and many, many phone calls that always lasted over an hour. In fact, if he called and got my voicemail, I knew I would have to have at least an hour clear when I called him back because we would always speak for way over a hour, and always talking about the same things - friends, family, and The Greatest Show On Earth.

A guestbook has been setup online to share your thoughts: http://www.naturesarsenal.com/richard/default.asp

To me, perhaps the best way to remember Richard is to use the exact text he supplied for the memorial book that was created when Duane "Uncle Soapy" Thorpe passed away in 1995 . Richard said:

"We should all celebrate his life! It was full and laughing and brimming with friends. It was always positive, always looking forward, never dwelling on the negative. We should all learn from him. We should all get together and remember his life, laugh, party, cut up jackpots! Be joyous and send him good thoughts. This will make him happy. Remember, he is not gone. His physical body may be gone, but his spirit always lives. We will all see him again someday in that glorious, happy place he is now. That is something to look forward to! Richard Slayton Jr."

Well said my friend.

May God Bless Richard Slayton.

Joel Heidtman