Goodbye Grandpa . . . .for now

On January 21, 1935 Richard Allen Porterfield was born, on May 7, 2010 he went home to his Father in Heaven. 

He was born and raised in Bellflower, California when it was still a small city with lots of open land that was wonderful for a curious young man to explore.

He grew up with a fishing pole in his hand and a rife on his back. He loved nature and shared that love with all. Roads and fences were meant to be ignored, and as far as he was concerned, fishing licences were an unnecessary detail. Life was meant to be lived and we were meant to laugh while living.

He was an old time skier, back when there were only rope tows. He told stories of skiing when you had the mountain to yourself and you knew the owner. I remember going to dinner with him to the restaurant at Sundance ski resort and seeing Robert Redford come in with his daughter. After dinner, he went over to Robert Redford, and as only he could do, talked to him about the ski resorts before it was Sundance. Grandpa was a ski instructor there, while going to BYU and just wanted to tell him how much he like the

 improvements that had been made to the resort. Mr. Redford was very nice about it and they had a very sincere conversation. I remember standing next to him so nervous, but he talked so calm and could have cared less that he was talking to a famous person.

Grandpa's family meant everything to him and he was great about spending as much time as he could with his family.

 His children all have great memories of family times together, camping trip and hunting trips to Mexico and Idaho. Great memories were shared at the funeral services of road trips, ski trips and scout outings. He loved music and was known for his massive stereo system. It was not uncommon to drive up to the house on Pecan and hear the stereo blaring outside. He loved good food, malts and his cars.

He adored his grandchildren and told each of them that they were his favorite, and he meant it and they believed him. When they called to talked to him he always listened and was very interested in what they had to say. He sincerely cared about their activities, their friends and their feelings. When my daughter's friend was baptised, he and Jane attended, because it was important to my daughter. When my son was playing college sports, grandpa would await his call to talk to him about the game.

When it was grandparents day at the elementary school, he and Jane were there every year, as long as grandpas health permitted. He was Santa Claus for my daughters 3rd grad class, and taught my boys about the stars and birds for scouts.

He had a contagious smile and a wonderful laugh. He loved to play jokes on people, sing, dance and wrestle with his kids, grand-kids and their friends.

While we were living in Germany we were lucky enough to have lots of visits and we will cherish those memories of time spent with him. 

Grandpa had not had good health for the last ten years or so and was diagnosed with a brain tumor in April. I am sad, but also grateful for the time we were able to have him in our earthly lives.

The only thing that grandpa loved more than his family was the Savior. He loved to talk to people about the Savior and share his testimony with them.

His funeral service was more of a family gathering with lots of memories shared by the people that loved him most.  One of my favorite quotes from the funeral is from Kraiger,  "My dad was my John Wayne". Grandpa will be missed by all he knew.