Richard Theodore Rochleau

Richard was a great friend, the kind of friend who would do anything for you. Henry and I enjoyed several trips with Bonnie and Richard. I remember when the four of us were heading to Charleston in our rvs. Henry ended up in the hospital in Augusta. I told Richard to go on and enjoy themselves. He openly refused. He would not leave us. He was that kind of friend! We all loved the R Ranch and the Old Friends RV group. When Bonnie got sick and passed away I honestly thought I had two husbands. Richard was always with us. I know he is rejoicing being with Bonnie and Henry. He had his quirks and could be difficult, but he was loved and a very dear friend! Go ride high on that golden gold cart with Henry!

He was my Daddy and I love him. My heart is breaking. He was vivacious, loved life, a little selfish, could be a ladies man and he was my Dad. He wanted a boy, got a tomboy instead. People would say ‘you’re spoiled as an only child’ I’d say, hey, I have to do housework for my mom and yardwork for my Dad. He taught me how to change the oil, replace the ceiling fans, fix the plumbing…which my husband really appreciates. Smile…He shouldn’t have died this way with COVID. Even with his Alzheimers/dementia he knew me and was the sweetest with people he Interacted with. He’s with Bonnie now, love of his life, and I can picture them doing the 2 step in Heaven. I will miss him greatly.

Angela, my thoughts and prayers are with you! I know how close you and Uncle Richard (Dick) were. We loved being with you and will remember him for his kindness, and always being ready for whatever anyone wanted to do. So many miles and memories spent between your house in GA, ours in AL, and then on to Ft. Walton Beach! He will always be in our hearts!

I meet Richard in 1973. We quickly became very good friends. We fished together, hunted together, traveled together, laughed together and yes even cried together. He was my best friend. Speaking of best I was even his best man at two of his weddings. He ask me to do the eulogy for Bonnie. She was the love of his life. Bonnie loved Richard so much. You could see the love between them in their eyes. Where do you start when sharing a memory about Richard. He and I shared so many memories and meet so many people over the year and did so many things it is so hard to share just a few. But one of the fondest and very funny was the time we were in Florida bass fishing. We were at Lake George on the St. John’s River in the water with waders on bass fishing. Walking around in the water throwing live bait in openings in the grass hoping for a largemouth bass to eat our bait. We had just seen a very large alligator not far from us. Richard and I were only about 50 feet apart when I heard him yell out. I quickly turned toward him and saw him running through the water. And then go under. All I could think about was that alligator had gotten him. I moved quickly toward him reaching for my hunting knife thinking the worst. He quickly came up from being submerged in the water. It seemed like he was under the water for minutes. When he came up he was gasping for air. In his right hand he was holding his fishing rod with a huge bass on the line. He told me when he set the hook the bass and he pulled the rod from his hand and he went down to get it. The whole time I thought the alligator had gotten him. What I was going to do with my hunting knife if it indeed was an alligator I have no clue. But he got the fish in. His waders was full of water and could hardly move. But I got him back to the boat and helped get him out of his waders and we fished for the rest of the day laughing. This is only one of the adventures that we went on. I am going to miss my best friend of 45 years so much. We had drifted apart from each other in our later years but I know in my heart that he is in heaven with his Bonnie. I loved Richard as my brother and will miss him until we meet again in heaven.