Love Like Sean: Gies Business alumnus, family honors son’s legacy with scholarship

Sean Patrick Richards was a competitive boy, and he had a gift for words. Among the many games at which he excelled, he was virtually unbeatable at Scrabble. He was incredible at spotting the clever combinations and finding ways to score the most points with the simplest words. But Sean’s knack for words went far beyond the game. He somehow always knew the right thing to say to encourage a friend, to share joy, to make someone laugh. His parents, Brian and Kristine, also have a million words of their own to describe him: kind, funny, artistic, strong, curious, compassionate. They are words that, like Sean himself, fit together to make a far greater impact than the sum of their letters.

In 2023 at the age of 14, Sean was tragically killed when he was struck by a vehicle while walking on a sidewalk in his hometown of Hinsdale, Illinois. In the wake of their loss, Sean’s family knew they wanted to channel their grief into something that would reflect his remarkable spirit. They created the Love Like Sean Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to spreading joy and encouraging acts of kindness – just as Sean did in his short, but impactful, life.

“When the world loses someone as special as Sean, we don’t want him to be forgotten,” said his father, Brian. “The Love Like Sean Foundation is a way for us to make sure he’s not forgotten. We want to perpetuate what he did, what he loved, and what he stood for.”

Through the foundation, Sean’s parents and older siblings Conor, Grace, and Finn organize running races and clothing and book drives, partner with Ty Inc. on thousands of “Love Like Sean” Beanie Babies to distribute to children in hospitals, create scholarships for local schools, and lead community projects that encourage compassion and inclusion. A hallmark of their movement is painting and leaving “Love Like Sean” rocks as small tokens in public places to remind people to smile, be kind, and share love.

Now, that spirit has found a home at Gies College of Business. Brian – a 1989 Gies Business alumnus with a degree in finance – and Kristine have committed $1 million through their foundation to fund the Love Like Sean Scholarship at Gies. The scholarship supports Gies Business students who lead through kindness, build community through compassion, and live each day with purpose and love.