Hamza A'dam.....🏋️‍♂️🏃‍♂️

Today on November the 6th, our father, my mother's husband went home to be with his mother whom he lost when he was a young man. He also went to be with his father, whom he loved and respected immensely. Richard Neece Ojeda lived an extraordinary life. He enjoyed the love of a wonderful woman. He traveled the world and lived a life of service that started in the US Air Force and continued after graduating from the Mayo Clinic where he was commissioned as an officer in the US Army. After military service my father spent the next 55 years practicing anesthesia. He was the first man in Logan County history to perform an epidural at Logan Regional Hospital in Logan, WV. Over many years, he would be remembered as the man who gave the majority of epidurals for those giving birth in Logan County, West Virginia. My father enjoyed traveling to Guatemala where he worked with Doctors Without Borders and administered anesthesia to children born with cleft palates. On a normal trip to perform that work, he would treat over 1000 children every time he was there. Our father traveled the world. One of my favorite conversations with my father was in 1990, when I was stationed in Germany. I was at the train station in Frankfort when I called home. My father would tell me the details of that train station because he had also spent time there a couple of decades before me. In 2003, my father flew to South Korea to spend a couple of weeks with me where we climbed volcanoes in the South China Sea. We rode in a submarine and visited temples all across Cheju-Do Island. At the end of those two weeks, we both flew to Hawaii where we visited the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, visited Ernie Pyle's grave at the Punchbowl and climbed Diamond Head Peak in Honolulu. Our father was a very well-read man. He maintained a library in our home that is still in existence today. He was an avid supporter of scientists like Albert Einstein, Neal deGrasse Tyson and Carl Sagan and could spend hours talking about quarks and black holes. My father was a passionate Catholic and said his rosary almost every night. He was proud to be a member of the Knights of Columbus.........and my father was a very generous man. He gave freely. He loved everybody and believed that everyone deserved a second chance. He loved to ski and spent time skiing in Canada, Colorado and of course in the mountains of West Virginia. But most importantly, He loved his family. He spoke of his brothers and sisters often and was truly proud of each and every one of them. He would often speak about his brothers who all had reputations as being some of the best welders to work for the mines in southern West Virginia. His fondest memories go back to his childhood when he lived in the Coal Camp in Dehue, West Virginia. They didn't grow up with a lot of money.......but they were rich in love. His father taught every one of them the value of hard work while their mother showed them all how to be generous with those around them. If you were a child that was close to their home when it was dinner time, she fed them too. I could continue speaking the praises of my wonderful father. We will love him forever and live lives that will guarantee us all, that we will see him again. Love you Pop ❤️

For years, my dad battled Parkinson’s disease. On Election Night, I got to tell him, “Pop, we won.” This morning, he passed away. A part of me believes he held on just long enough to see his son make it to Congress. He won’t be there when I’m sworn in. But I know he’ll be standing right beside me. Rest easy, Daddy. I’ll take it from here. These next two years are for you ❤️