Ammon Jefferson Richardson

Ammon Jefferson Richardson

      A couple months ago mom came to me and asked me to come up with a blog post for Ammon's death. This was daunting to me because, even though I do a lot of posts for her, I have never actually met Ammon. To complicate it more I had only ever spoken to Ammon once on Facebook. From that conversation I learned that he was super nice and a fun person that I would like to have the chance to meet one day. He lived in Korea but was planning to visit the ranch soon. 

     At the funeral I gained some insight to who Ammon was to so many other people. His siblings shared many of the wonderful things they remembered: "He was such a fun person." "He had a way of making you just love him." "He would visit me sometimes and play with my kids just so I could have some time to myself, that's how he was, so caring." "He had a childlike nature." "He found the good in things." "He was always thinking of others."

     I talked to my husband about his feelings, Ammon is his brother, and he said that he didn't have tons of time with him before Ammon went to Korea, but that he loved Ammon very much and he missed him. 

     I thought about what to say and how to say it for a long time. I decided that I should also make a video and put a suitable song to it. This was another hard task. I scoured Facebook for any and all pictures I could find of Ammon. I spent hours looking for a song that would fit, one that would emulate all that Ammon was. I stumbled across the song,"Gone, Gone, Gone," by Phillip Phillips and thought, "That is PERFECT!" I have cried so many times doing this Tribute to Ammon and hope that it does justice to all that he was and still is in Heaven. 

     I have learned to love Ammon in this process. He was working on coming back to the Church. He was a friend to everyone. He was a devoted son and brother. He constantly thought about his siblings and would get them gifts. He was a truly dedicated husband to his beautiful wife Jenni. The last picture in this slideshow shows just how much he loves her.

     I believe the saying that, "He is not gone, just gone ahead." I know that Heaven is not far away and I think that sometimes even though we can not see him, he is near. 

Mom wrote this beautiful letter on Facebook a few months ago and I wanted to share it:

Dear Friends and family,

I am sure that most of you have heard about the death of our son. Ammon, our youngest biological son, died last week while living in Korea. He leaves behind him a sweet Korean wife but no children. We do not yet know the cause of death officially as there is an investigation that is not resolved at this time. We do know that he deeply desired to just go home. Even with the possibility that it was his choice to shorten his life here on earth, in the end where he is now, will be a much more peaceful place where he can continue the journey back to his Father in Heaven.

We will miss him but knowing the kind of person that he was gives us a moment to think about how we want to be remembered. He loved people! He loved to serve people. He loved to laugh and tease and make others smile. He loved to dream and was always excited about something that was percolating in his mind about some new adventure. He spent his life here serving those around him and finding joy in doing so. He will be greatly missed and the excitement I have at seeing him again on the other side is sweet to me. He leaves 29 siblings, 37 nieces and nephews, 2 parents and many more extended family members and friends. We love him and know that all things can be made great through the power of Christ in our lives.

We will be bringing him home to our ranch in Missouri where he will be buried in our family cemetery. We rejoice in Christ and testify of His great love for all of us and the tender mercies that come with continued faith and hope in His atoning sacrifice. May God's sweetest blessings be yours as they have been ours.

We love you Ammon. See you on the other side :)