Darrow "Buddy" E. Richins Jr.

Darrow E. “Buddy” Richins Jr., the eldest son of Darrow and Ruth Richins and eternal companion of Liana Rollins Richins, entered into our Heavenly Father’s presence on Friday, March 12, 2021. 

Buddy was born in Safford, Arizona on Sunday, May 14, 1944, which happened to fall on Mothers’ Day.  At the time of his birth, the family lived in Virden NM where his father and grandfather worked as farmers.  The family moved shortly thereafter to the small farming community of Cotton City/Animas, NM where they were among the first settlers in the community.  Buddy lived in the Animas valley until he went to college at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

In 1963, Buddy was called to serve a fulltime mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Southeast Mexico Mission.  He was a quick learner of the language because it was used frequently in southwest New Mexico.  Buddy had a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he served faithfully as he shared it with the people of Mexico.  While on his mission he met his future sweetheart, Sister Liana Rollins who was serving in the same mission.  She initially did not care much for that Elder “Rico”; however, upon returning to BYU he won over her heart and the two were married for time and eternity in the Salt Lake City Temple on August 25, 1966.

Buddy and Liana lived in Utah, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona where they raised their 4 children, Ginger, (Richard) O’Gaffney, Reed Richins, Chad (Debra) Richins, and Kim (Elisia) Richins.  Buddy held many callings in the church including serving as the Branch President of the Spanish branch in Tucson, Arizona.  Buddy loved the Spanish language and taught it to others for most of his life.

Buddy had many titles, from Elder, husband, brother, President, but his favorite calling was grandpa.  He and Liana have 12 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren.  He loved his family and strived to serve them daily.  He was a self-taught craftsman, and always had a project of some sort in the works. 

Buddy leaves this life to join his sweetheart of 54 years.  He is survived by his four children and their spouses, 12 grandchildren, six of which are married, and three great grandchildren.  Buddy was blessed to be the oldest of 7 children, Russell, Wendy, Kenneth, Shellie, Jeff and Scott, and was fortunate to have many cousins he proudly called friends. 

He loved the gospel and raised his family to love the gospel as much as he did and he now continues to teach and share the gospel with his eternal companion.  Although we are saddened that we will no longer see him, we find peace and comfort in the knowledge that we will all be together again. 

Funeral service will be held on Saturday, March 27th at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Animas, NM. The viewing will be held from 12:00pm to 12:45pm, and the funeral service will start at 1:00 pm New Mexico time.  Burial will follow at the Busy Bee Cemetery.  As a safety precaution, we ask that attendees wear masks, and follow social distancing protocols.

For those unable to attend, the services will be recorded and posted to YouTube after the service is completed. That link will be made available when the recording is uploaded.  Flowers may be sent to Buddy’s family through Fifth Avenue Florist (www.fifthavenueflorist.org) in Safford, AZ. 

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