Stephen Edward Richmond, of Arlington, VA, passed away suddenly on Friday, February 7, 2020, at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, VA, with complications of Melanoma.
He was born on July 13, 1955.
Stephen was a graduate of Greenbrier East High School, and in 1973, he joined the United States Navy. He graduated from the Hospital Corp School, United States Navy, in Great Lakes, IL, in 1974. In 1976, he served in the National Naval Medical Command Center, USN, in Bethesda, MD, and graduated in respiratory/cardiopulmonary. In 1987, he completed his biology at North Virginia College.
Stephen served as a U.S. Naval Corpsmen, and a respiratory therapist at the Montgomery General Hospital for Mid Maryland Lung Association, providing respiratory care for cystic fibrosis.
He was a respiratory care practitioner at the National Children’s Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He was a Biologist of Science Research Critical Care Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, where he supervised microbiology and cardiopulmonary labs, performing intramural research. He retired with 30 years of service to NIH.
Stephen was special, who made an indelible impression on those he met. It is hard to articulate how much he meant to us all. He was loved and respected by many. We are all better people for the legacy he left behind. He spent most of his adult life in his career researching cancer at NIH.
Throughout his life he had a passion for all genres of music, a scholar some would say, insightful, sincere, deep, with intense boundless energy and inclusive with his warmth. He had an encyclopedia of knowledge of music (and other things too), from jazz, blues, rock and roll, and pop, with a great respect for many overlooked composers of the past. Music to him grabbed the heart at the lost fundamental and human core, and moves us to feel the profundity of our existence.
He was an avid reader and enjoyed his photography, sharing his photos with family and friends. He will be remembered as a great father and grandfather. The virtue of kindness is something to fight for and to treasure, and it can be found in love.
He was preceded in death by his father, Arthur D. Richmond.
He is survived by his son, Nicholas Richmond (Samantha); adoring grandchildren, Nickie, Aamya, and Noah Richmond, of New York; his loving mother, Mary Jane Richmond; sisters, Linda Durham (Richard) of Lewisburg, WV, and Brenda Bengtson (Robert) of Roanoke, VA; his special nieces and nephews that held dear to his heart, Gregory Richmond, Jonathan and Hannah Durham, of Roanoke, and Tyler, Hayley, Tanner, and Hunter Bengston of Roanoke; a grandniece, Alexis Richmond of Charleston, WV; and lots of extended cousins.
Per his wishes, his body was donated to the WVSOM Human Gift Registry.
Send online condolences by visiting www.WallaceandWallaceFH.com.
Wallace & Wallace Funeral Home in Lewisburg is in charge of arrangements.
Obituary originally published in the February 13, 2020, edition of The West Virginia Daily News.
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