Peter Dewey Richards passed away on March 25, 2021. He lived every day with joy, sang and laughed with abandon, never met a stranger, and never forgot a friend. Peter’s motto, in his own words, was “Life is short. You have to enjoy it.” You would be hard-pressed to find anybody who enjoyed life more than he did. He was so proud of children Rio and Tanner, and he adored his soul mate and wife, Laurie. His passing has left a profound void in all our lives.
Peter was the youngest of Joe and Betty Richards’s five boys. Born in Oakland, he spent his childhood years running around the fields and hills of Lafayette, California, with his four brothers: Mike, Chris, Joe, and Gyani. They lost their dad young, which probably played a part in why Peter always treasured his life. But Betty stepped up and raised the boys, encouraging their exuberance and adventures and imbuing them with her own zest for life. Peter was extremely close to his brothers — they could not contain themselves when they were in the same room, vying to provoke laughter from old and possibly inflated stories, with the volume in the room rising until they were all yelling and laughing simultaneously. The brothers took every opportunity to vacation together in their “golden triangle” — Santa Barbara, Maui, and Lake Tahoe.
Pete moved south for college, attending Santa Barbara City College and UCSB. While he did love history, he loved surfing and a bit of rabble-rousing more. He waited tables by night and played hard by day, enjoying the surf, sun, and tennis courts, and cruising on his motorcycle with a huge smile on his face. He also spent a few seasons in St. Thomas after college and was a natural for the island life.