Age: 57 of Cinnaminson, NJ

Passed away suddenly on April 11, 2020. Richard was the devoted husband of Lana (nee Gardner); cherished father of Lauren Rosemary Downs, Dante Thomas Downs and Giavanna Kathleen Downs; loving grandfather of Jayden Thomas Downs. Predecessors include his mother, Rosemary Downs, and his father William Downs. Rich was blessed with the love of several siblings including: Greg Angelucci, Renie Angelucci, Amy Mazur, Susan Downs-Docherty, and Jennifer Neuhaus. Rich had several wonderful nieces and nephews as well.

Richard had amazing uncles, aunts and cousins on the Angelucci side with whom he loved so much; when his mother passed during his childhood–and he needed them most–they touched his life. A special thanks to his best friend/cousin, Thomas Angelucci and wife, Jennifer Angelucci, who not only provided him with great love and friendship during his life but who also have demonstrated unconditional love for his wife and children helping them through this difficult time.

Richard also adored his father and mother in-law, David and Kathleen Gardner. He was always so thankful to call them Mom and Dad. Through marriage, he received a brother-in-law, Benjamin Gardner and sister-in-law Lisa Connolly. They blessed him with four special nephews.

Richard loved sports of all kinds; but, as a result of his daughter’s passion, his favorite was field hockey. The day his daughter committed to Kean University was one of the best days of his life. Through his coaching, he shared a positive impact with the girls and their parents. Rich was the proudest parent in the stands. He also made sure to provide positive feedback to all the girls at every game. He would remember and share exact plays which highlighted the skill of each teammate. The players loved how he made them feel special, even if it wasn’t their best game. Rich also loved to be silly and would do anything with his daughter or friends to get a laugh out of them. Whether it was dressing in random costumes at the store, winning silly toys in a crane game or taking tic toks and selfies with them. Rich enjoyed music and songs that relayed his feelings. For his daughter, he loved “My Little Girl” by Tim McGraw.

Richard adored his son Dante. The two are very similar and loved to talk sports, news or politics. He loved to watch Dante play baseball and football. Rich had so much pride for his son and the man Dante grew into. Rich had special songs for his son on his playlist. His favorite was Creed’s “With Arms Wide Open” beginning the day his wife told him that they were expecting; in recent times, his Dante playlist included Craig Morgan’s “If Not Me” and Rodney Atkin’s “He’s Mine”. He loved music and felt like so much of life was explained through songs. Rich’s greatest happiness was the day his son told him that he wanted to serve his country in the United States Air Force.

Rich always told his children that he loved them and he was so proud of their accomplishments. His daughter Lauren gave him his first grandson. Lauren also made him extremely proud as a little girl with anything and everything that she did.

Rich had the gift of gab. He loved his neighbors and he liked to do things to make them smile, like planting plants or mowing their yard. Rich cared about people, their families and he would always ask them about how everything was going. It should be mentioned that Rich also loved to cook his grandmothers’ recipes or any recipe he might find online. He enjoyed a full house of kids (often), filling their bellies and laughing the whole time. Rich loved children and a full house was always his favorite. Rich loved with his whole heart and will be dearly missed.

In lieu of flowers, charitable donations in Richard’s name may be made to the Rich Downs Memorial Fund.