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Elijah was born on July 2, 1980, in Sandpoint to Daniel Richardson and Cynthia Anderson. He was born with multiple physical problems, including Pierre Robin Syndrome and Congenital Cataracts, and nearly did not survive his early years. With the loving care of his parents, he made it through those early years living near Priest Lake.
At the age of seven, he was moved to a foster home in Kootenai to be able to better take care of his special needs. When Elijah was 11, it was decided that he needed to be in a family that could provide more attention and individualized care for him.
This was when God gave him a pa and ma who needed him as much as he needed them. We could not have asked for a better son, he brought so much joy and unconditional love to our lives.
Elijah’s life changed drastically when he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at the age of 12. His life suddenly had new meaning and purpose and he thrived! At 16, he began working for the Forest Service on a special youth trail crew along with his good friend and “brother,” Michael Bjoraker, with John (Pa) as their supervisor.
This began a long career and ministry on the YCC trail crew working for Pat Hart.
Elijah was always a kid at heart, but when he got into his twenties and it was clear he was no longer a youth, Pat found other creative ways to keep Elijah working. For the remainder of his life, he and pa spent every summer building trails with the YCC, 20 years in all.
During that time he impacted the lives of countless youth with his endless good attitude, his loving nature, and his love for God.
For the last five years, Elijah has attended church faithfully at Mountain Springs Church, where he is well loved and known for his collection of tie-dyed shirts, his love of Star Trek, Transformers, Star Wars, current political issues and most importantly, his love and zeal for Jesus!
Elijah is survived by his beloved parents John and Pamela Martling (Pa and Ma); his biological parents Cindy and Dan Richardson; sister Chelsea Torres and grandmother Billie Collins. He is also survived by his loving and faithful friends Bud and Joy Sinclair, aunts Debra and Cristie and a multitude of friends who loved him and were touched by his life.
Elijah faithfully prayed for God to heal him of his physical limitations and God answered his prayer last week, he is now free.
Thank you for loving us unconditionally, we are all better people for having known you. You will be forever missed and in our hearts, we love you son.