Brent Leon Richey; Law Student, Business Owner

A memorial service will be held Saturday for Brent Leon Richey, a law student and business owner who was among the 230 passengers and crew members who perished when TWA Flight 800 crashed off Long Island, N.Y., last month.

Richey, who turned 26 the day before the crash, was traveling to Europe with his fiancee, Seana Anderson. The couple lived together in Van Nuys and had planned to wed in Italy.

“They were a super couple,” said Richey’s stepfather, Rob Anderson, in a Times interview shortly after the crash. “They were getting ready to move into a house in Castaic in October.”

Born July 16, 1970, in Burlingame, N.J., Richey spent his childhood in Wichita, Kan., before he and his mother moved to Salt Lake City. There he graduated with honors from high school and was awarded a scholarship to attend Southern Utah University. According to his family, Richey was a highly motivated student who earned two bachelor’s degrees in 2 1/2 years.

In 1990, Richey moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as an intern for former Sen. Jake Garn (R-Utah), who recalled Richey as a standout among his peers.

“A lot of the interns that would come needed a great deal of supervision. He didn’t,” said Garn, adding that Richey’s communication skills, both verbal and written, were superior.

“He had a very wry sense of humor which, if you put with his other skills, was really nice to have around the office. He was a very fine young man.”

After graduation, Richey joined his mother and stepfather in Ventura, where he worked for a local law firm until he started law school at Loyola Marymount University. While at Loyola, he worked for a law firm in Century City.

Richey, who was described by his stepfather as “an intense, honest and meticulous person,” coached an adult softball team in his spare time.

Last year, in anticipation of his last year in law school, Richey founded a company called Vision Telecommunications, which sold pagers.

Richey is survived by his mother and stepfather, Shirley and Rob Anderson of Ventura; father and stepmother, Raymond and Marie Richey of Huntsville, Ark.; a sister, Carmela Richey, also of Huntsville; two brothers, Casey Anderson of Ventura and Brian Richey of Wichita, Kan.; a stepbrother, Wendell Decoteau, also of Wichita; grandparents Margaret and J.D. Trahan of Huntsville and Ralph and Fay Anderson of Salt Lake City, and a nephew.

The memorial service will be at noon Saturday at Charles Carroll Mortuary, 15 Teloma Drive, Ventura.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Brent Richey Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Southern Utah University, Advancement Office, 351 West Center, Cedar City, Utah 84720.