Joshua Paul Richards

Joshua Paul Richards was born to Paul Allen Richards and Kathleen Harrison Richards (deceased) on January 28, 1988 in Portsmouth, NH. He is survived by his wife, Pamela Richards, brother Nathaniel Richards, step-mother Elizabeth Oakleaf and father Paul Richards.

Joshua was raised in Greenland, NH and graduated from Portsmouth High School. At an early age he demonstrated a high level of intellectual curiosity which shaped his interests and pursuits. He enjoyed the usual childhood activities of soccer, skiing, biking and swimming but was always most at home when stimulating his mind with books and deep discussions of worldly matters. This foundation motivated him to pursue a foreign exchange program in Thailand upon graduating from High School and after a year abroad returned fluent in Thai with a treasure trove of stories and adventures. His relationship with his Thai host family was so strong he returned to Thailand for the summer of his freshman year at the University of New Hampshire, where he pursued a dual major in International Affairs and Archeology. The requirement of his International Affairs degree required proficiency in the language of his regional focus and based on his exchange program chose Asian Studies and focused on Mandarin for the remainder of his undergraduate career. To sharpen his language skills he chose an immersive study abroad program at Nah Jing University during his sophomore year; but in deference to his interest in archeology he spent the summer of his junior year participating in an archeological dig in New Hampshire at the site of an 17th century settlement and was ecstatic to unearth an artifact, which proved to be the find of the summer. Upon graduation from UNH Josh returned to China where he became a visiting professor at Cheng Du University and met Pamela, who would become his wife.

Josh always knew he would extend his educational pursuits and after 5 years in China received a scholarship to study law at Boston University. He reveled in the intensity and immersion of his studies and spent summers combining his language skills and growing mastery of law with internships at firms specializing in immigration matters. This experience instilled in him a strong desire to help those less fortunate and upon graduation and completing the Massachusetts Bar Exam (on his first sitting) he secured a position in Boston at the Chin Law Firm focusing on immigration and housing law.

With his career underway the next order of business was to marry the love of his life Pamela and they tied the knot on a magnificent day at a seaside setting on Cape Cod in August of 2018 after which they set about building their life together in Boston.

In the words of Joan Biaz, “You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die or when. You can only choose how you’re going to live” and Josh chose to live with purpose, vigor and a focus on those things and people he loved and although his life was shorter than we’d like it was filled with a richness absent to many.

The family invites you to visiting hours on October 7th from 6:00pm to 7:00pm followed by a celebration of his life at 7:00 PM on Thursday, October 7 at the Jones, Rich and Barnes Funeral Home, 199 Woodford St, Portland, Maine.

You may offer your condolences and share your memories at www.jonesrichandbarnes.com