He attended every parent-teacher meeting, every dance recital, every soccer game — cheering louder than anyone.
The girls grew up calling him “Papa Richard” and knowing they were chosen, wanted, loved beyond measure.
They became doctors, teachers, artists, engineers, and mothers themselves.
And through it all, they never forgot the broken man who walked into an orphanage in the rain and chose them all.
On Richard’s 88th birthday, the nine daughters gathered in secret for months.
They bought the old St. Mary’s Orphanage building — the very place where their father had found them — and restored it completely.
They turned it into “Anne’s House” — a beautiful home for orphaned siblings so no child would ever be separated again.
On the big day, they blindfolded Richard and drove him there.
When they removed the blindfold, all nine stood in front of the restored building with their own children and grandchildren.
A sign above the door read:
