(Jan. 3, 2005)
Robert Clark (Bob) Richardson, 83, died Monday, Jan. 3 at Powell Valley Healthcare in Powell from pneumonia.
He was born in San Diego, Calif., on Feb. 28, 1921, his father's birth date, to Mary Olive Clark Richardson and Robert Earl Richardson. He grew up in Lovell and graduated from Lovell High School in 1938.
He attended the University of Wyoming, where in the spring of 1939, he met his future wife, Evagene (Evy) Davis from Sheridan. They were married in Sheridan on Sept. 14, 1941.
During World War II, he served as a combat pilot with the Third Attack Group of the 5th Air Force in New Guinea and the Philippines. While he was overseas, a daughter, Margaret Dana, was born in Lovell on his 24th birthday.
At the end of the war, he went to work with the family business, The Lovell Clay Products Company. He lived with his small family in Billings, Mont., where he re-activated and managed a brick plant that he had helped to build in 1940-41.
A second daughter, Jane Dundas, was born in Billings on Sept. 6, 1946. They returned to college at Ames, Iowa, in the fall of 1948 to finish school at Iowa State College (now University); Evy with a B.S., in food and nutrition (dietetics) and Bob with a B.S in ceramic engineering.
He rejoined Lovell Clay Products, and soon replaced as company president his father, whose health was failing. Bob held this position from 1951 to 1975, when the collapse of the market for clay pipe forced the closing of the plant at Lovell. Upon leaving Lovell Clay, he went to work for engineering and architectural firms as an inspector and project representative. He was involved in the construction of public works, including water and sewer systems and various other projects.
He became licensed as a Professional Engineer in Wyoming and Montana in 1980. He became Town Manager of the Town of Lovell in 1984 and held this position until he retired two years later. Since retirement, Bob and Evy have wintered in the Imperial Valley of California at El Centro. They returned to Lovell each spring and remained residents of Wyoming.
He was a member and past president of the Lovell Chamber of Commerce. He served for nine years on the Lovell School Board, including one year as chairman. During this time he was appointed to Gov. Hansen's citizens committee on reorganization of Wyoming school districts. He was a long-time member of the research committee of the National Clay Pipe Manufacturers Institute and served on the clay pipe specifications committee of the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM).
He enjoyed most music and was especially fond of grand opera and the classical music of the Old Masters. He supported and attended the productions of the Central City Opera Association in Colorado, The Metropolitan Opera of New York City and the Intermountain Opera Association of Bozeman, Mont. His mother gave him a Hawkeye box camera for his 10th birthday, and he indulged in a life-long affair with photography as a hobby.
Bob and Evy became avid golf enthusiasts and were members of the Powell Country Club, the Foster Gulch Golf Association and Barbara Worth Country Club of Holtville, Calif. After retiring, Bob took up lapidary and the making of silver jewelry and birding. He even learned to enjoy stopping to read all the historical signs along the highway. He despised yard work and never was awarded "Yard of the Week."
Survivors include his wife Evagene of Powell; two daughters, Margaret Richardson of Powell and Jane Richardson and husband Dennis Hejduk of Las Vegas, Nev.; grandson Robert L. Martinez and wife Yvotte of Helena, Mont.; one sister, Jeanette Stewart of Woodburn, Ore.; one great-grandchild, Cassidy Lyn Martinez; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters.
Cremation has taken place, with ashes to be interred in the family plot at Lovell Cemetery at a later date. At his request, there will be no formal services.
Haskell Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. For those who wish, the family suggests memorial donations to the Lovell Library, Pryor Mountain Mustang Center, Caring for Powell Animals or the charity of choice.