Stephen was born in Encino, California on June 3rd, 1963. From an early age, he became a car fanatic. With his father, Stephen had the experience of working on cars that he later shared with his own children. Stephen’s son, Nick fondly recalls working up a sweat in the garage with his father as they took apart and built their project car, an Mitsubishi Evo. Besides cars, Stephen was also an enthusiast for motorcycling, boating and of course, golfing. Not only his family, but Stephen’s friends have joyous experiences of riding motorcycles during the sunset through the canyons, taking out the Eliminator in the glasslike waters of Lake Mead, and listening to Stephen use up the entire profanity dictionary in just 18 holes at the Wood Ranch Golf Course. He made many meaningful connections with the people who shared in his love for these passions.
During the length of his career, Stephen had excelled in the mortgage and real estate industry. Some of his children had the opportunity to learn this trade from Stephen, but in truth, will never be able to fully understand the skills that their father had built up and mastered in his 35 years of experience. With this knowledge in the business, Stephen was able to provide a full life for his children and family memories that they will always cherish. Everyone will miss the way that Stephen distinctively answered his phone calls saying, “Richman.”
Stephen was a father to 2 sons, Anthony and Nicholas and 1 daughter, Cristen. Throughout his life, Stephen was also a father to the many other children that he treated as his own including: Pickle (Kylee), Austin, Arielle, Dylan, Trevor, Thomas and Jake. Blood, step, adopted or just family friends, these children have all been burdened with the reality of losing such a prominent father figure so early in their lives. Although they have lost their father, that will not stop them from remembering the “Richman” way.
Stephen’s best friend was his Doberman, Axel. Stephen pampered Axel with a lavish puppy lifestyle that entailed taking him out on walks everyday, letting him run freely on the open fields of his parent’s Somis property, treating him to fine cuisines and cuddling up with him every night before bed. One memory that the family delights in was the fact that every time they went out for a special meal at Mastro's, Stephen would never falter from ordering a bone-in-steak so that Axel would have a nice treat when the family returned home.
One cannot talk about Stephen without mentioning his love for action-packed films and tv shows. He loved Breaking Bad and watching the Bourne Trilogy on repeat. When judged by his family for his obsessive routine of turning on these films or tv shows, Stephen would reply in his sarcastic manner that he had never seen them before. Going to the movies was also a recurring family activity. Stephen was seeing an action movie or he wasn’t seeing a movie at all.
Reflecting back on the time they had with Stephen, the family hopes to have said, “Thank you,” enough to their father for the sacrifices, the unconditional love, and the laughter that radiated throughout when they spent time with Stephen. They are forever grateful for the time that Stephen was here to remind them that life needed a few laughs every now and then.
Stephen will be forever remembered and celebrated by his children, parents, siblings, extended family, past significant others and all of the friends that he had in his life. Together, they will give each other the strength to move on from this unexpected tragedy.
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