William Richardson

Cremation Services Were Chosen.

William Robert Richardson, 98, died at Bethany Home, Lindsborg, Kansas on July 25, 2016.  He was born November 4, 1917 in Freedom Township, Republic County, Kansas to William Richardson and Ethel (Reed) Richardson.  He passed away quietly and peacefully with members of his family present. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers, Ralph and Harold Richardson of Belleville. He leaves behind his sister-in-law Dorothy Richardson of Belleville, his many nephews and nieces who knew him fondly as “Uncle Bob,” and the many friends he made in his myriad pursuits and interests spanning decades. He was a lifelong bachelor. He graduated from Belleville High School. With WWII breaking out Robert, enlisted in the United States Army in Sept. 1941. After training in the United States and England he served in Algeria and French Morocco (1942), Tunisia (1943), and Italy (1944.)   As a radio technician Army Air Force’s 78th Fighter Control Squadron he rose to the rank of Sergeant, directing fighters in the skies over North Africa and Italy. He was home of furlough expecting to be sent to Japan when the atomic bombs ended the war. Within days he was discharged. His early working career was mainly occupied with farming and truck driving but also included stints as a taxi driver in Boulder, Colorado and as a hostler on the Rock Island Railroad in Goodland, Kansas.  He worked at the Belleville Power Plant for seventeen years and retired the day he turned 62. He was a lifelong member of the First Methodist Church of Belleville. He made a place for himself, not only in Belleville but also the community around his cabin at Lovewell Lake, Country Place Living in Belleville, and finally at Bethany Home in Lindsborg, Kansas.

Few people embodied lifelong learning as much as Robert Richardson. Just a partial listing of his pursuits include sailboat building, grinding mirrors for astronomical telescopes, ham radio, constructing kit-built airplanes, radio control gliders, competitive bicycling, building muzzle-loading rifles, motorcycle riding (he was a Harley Davidson man), machining and metal lathe work and exploring the mining and railroad history of Colorado. He was as comfortable discussing astrophysics as he was four-cycle, single cylinder motorcycles. His many and varied interests were a source of friction with his father who thought he should be paying more attention to the farm. That ended the night Robert showed his father the planet Saturn (with it’s rings) through the telescope he had constructed from scratch. William Robert Richardson was fondly loved by his many friends as well as his nieces and nephews. He stood out as a man who hewed to his own course, friendly but cautious of commitments, and forever on the lookout for something interesting to explore or build. We will miss his keen, thoughtful intelligence and the warm, wry humor that was his trademark. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations may be made to the Belleville Public Library or Bethany Home Association, Lindsborg.

Services will be held on Saturday, August 6 in Belleville. Family will gather at 10:45 for inurnment at the Belleville Cemetery. A memorial service will follow at 11:30 at First Methodist Church in Belleville. Lunch to follow at the church. Tibbetts-Fischer Funeral Home, Belleville, Kansas assisted the Richardson family with these arrangements.