Will Daniel and Pete Richardson (Photo by Jay Paul)
Will Daniel and Pete Richardson are two of the most popular guys in Richmond’s West End. Without being inhibited or self-conscious, they make friends wherever they go — and they go a lot of places. Everyone knows them at the Special Olympics, where they compete, and at the concession stand during Freeman High School football games, where they volunteer. Pete welcomes shoppers to Libbie Market while he bags groceries, and Will greets everyone at St. Mary’s Hospital as he helps maintain the grounds.
Will, 44, was born with Down syndrome and Pete, 37, has an intellectual disability. The two became fast friends when they met at the Kanawha Recreation Association swimming pool 25 years ago. Though each lives at home with his parents, they often meet for independent outings. Will walks and Pete rides his bike to Tuckahoe Shopping Center for lunch, where the restaurants not only know their names but their regular orders.
“Will is friendly with everyone,” says his mother, Pat Daniel. “He tends to find the folks who will be kind to him. He doesn’t care what people look like or what their accomplishments are. He’s just open to being friends and wants to know you.”
Laura Richardson says her son Pete has always had a way with people, which Richmond’s NBC affiliate recognized in June when he was featured in a 12 On Your Side “Acts of Kindness” segment. “We can go in a restaurant and have the grumpiest waitress ever, and as soon as she hears Pete, all of a sudden she’s so nice,” Laura says. “He always has a smile on his face and is sweet and fun.”
Will and Pete love attending sporting events and are regulars at Richmond Kickers and Ivy soccer matches and University of Richmond football and basketball games. They have befriended numerous fans, players and coaches through the years, and in 2023, Will was named Fan of the Year at the RVA Sports Awards by the Richmond Tourism Foundation.
The are also avid athletes. “Every year we do the [Step Up for] Down Syndrome 5K at Dorey Park,” Will says. “Pete joined the team, and Mom and I do it, too.”
Photo courtesy Laura Richardson
Will also recruited Pete for Special Olympics. “It’s been a huge part of their lives,” Laura says. “They have such a community of friends, and they watch each other’s games in different sports.”
Laura and Pat say they strive to give their sons every opportunity they can and are consistently impressed by the kindness of others. “My whole life I’ve waited for someone to make fun of [Pete], and I can honestly say I don’t think it’s happened,” Laura says. “Instead, we’ve seen so much good in people. We’ve been really lucky in that way.”
She remembers Pete’s joy when other kids gave him tokens at Chuck E. Cheese and his pride when his classmates at Freeman High School voted him prom king. Now two local fitness-oriented nonprofits, November Project and Bring It RVA, welcome him to their weekly workouts. “Pete is so excited to wake up at 5:30 in the morning, even in the freezing cold winter [when it is] raining and sleeting, just to be social,” Laura says.
Pat recounts the time a middle school soccer coach arranged with the other team for Will to play before the official start to a game. “These kids were a foot taller and two years older and somehow unable to get the ball away from a particular smaller center forward that was going right toward the goal,” she remembers.
When he was in high school, Will and his family greeted the 1997 men’s collegiate soccer teams who flew to Richmond for the Final Four. Will was telling Pat how much he wanted to ride the team bus when UCLA’s head coach, Siegfried “Sigi” Schmid, invited him to come along.
“So Will gets on the bus and sits right beside Coach Sigi,” Pat says. Their 20-year friendship only ended when Schmid passed away in 2018. Will has also remained friends with Jimmy Conrad, a member of that UCLA championship team who also played professionally. “Will’s life has been enriched by the people who have taken the time to include him,” she adds.
(From left) Richardson and Daniel are longtime soccer players. (Photos courtesy Laura Richardson and Pat Daniel)
Pat says she has learned many life lessons from Will’s openness to accepting people and his positive attitude. Once, after a big loss at the Special Olympics, she remembers being upset because the other team had an unfair advantage. “I’m driving down Route 6 fuming, but then I hear Will and Pete talking in the back seat about how great it was they got to play,” she recalls. “They helped me realize what’s important.”
Laura wishes she could go back and tell her younger self that everything would work out. “When you have a child who’s different, your mind goes to the worst-case scenario,” she says, “but I could have saved myself from a lot of worry. Pete is happy and healthy. My other children are more compassionate, and our friends and neighbors have been unbelievable.”
As for Pete and Will, they don’t seem to have any worries. As Pete says, “We’re just living normal lives and staying busy.”
July 26 is National Disability Independence Day, and July is Disability Pride Month. Both celebrations commemorate the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
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