Obituary of Kathryn Beatrice Richards

Kathryn Beatrice (Bray) Richards (“Katie”) was born April 3, 1938, in Enid, Oklahoma, to Arlon Bernice (A.B.) and Kathryn Alice (Everett) Bray.  She passed away Friday evening, August 4, 2023, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Lloyd W. Richards, and her “special” daughter, Sylvia Rivera.

Katie is survived by her children Kathryn Kimberlee (Kim) Dickson and Sherree Belt of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Kendall Kay & Danny Bourland of Coolidge, Arizona; and Casey Arlon Richards of Norman, Oklahoma.  Also, her five grandchildren: Kathryn Jill Fuller (Brent) and Sarah Elizabeth Bourland of Coolidge, Arizona; Donald Nicholas Dickson of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Ali Nichole Morris (T.J.) of Ponca City, Oklahoma; and Cale Everett Richards of New York City.  She also leaves six great-grandchildren: Braden Daniel Ashcraft, of Surprise, Arizona, Andrew Blake Ashcraft, Landon Kayle Ashcraft, and Kylee Mattison Ashcraft, of Coolidge, Arizona; Selah June Morris and Jubiiee Kate Morris of Ponca City, Oklahoma.

Katie graduated from Southern Methodist University with her B.A. in English and began her career as a middle and high school teacher, teaching English, Latin, and eventually Special Education in Kansas City, Missouri and later Tulsa, Oklahoma.  She obtained her master’s degree in special education in 1968 from the University of Tulsa, and moved her three children from Tulsa to Arizona where she began working in the field of residential care for the cognitively impaired.  She returned to Tulsa in 1978 and eventually came to lead Lloyd Richards’ Personnel Services, Inc, a most successful agency that specialized in local and international job placements.  She and Lloyd married, and as Lloyd’s long-term illness forced him into early retirement, she assumed full control of the company, all the while maintaining full-time care for Lloyd in their home up until his death in November, 2010.

Katie was a most magnanimous and generous woman who was unquestionably devoted to her husband, family, and her country.  As an only child, she was exceptionally devoted to her parents, and she instilled these values in her children.  Like her father before her, she rarely met a stranger, and wherever she saw a need, she would do whatever she could to help fill it.  Many who were close to her, be it friend or even employee, were family in her eyes.  She focused on making, and successfully made, a significant difference in many lives.  She was a major force in the de-institutionalization of Arizona’s residential state facilities, and movement to community-based services.

Professionally driven, Katie was active in the Tulsa business community and Republican Women’s Club of Tulsa County.  She was a long-standing member of the Tulsa chapter of Mensa.  She loved to read, go shopping, travel and go to the theater and movies.  Her absence leaves a very large hole in the lives of her friends and family.

The family will receive friends 5-7:00 pm Wednesday at Ninde Brookside Funeral Home. Funeral service 11:00 am Thursday, August 10 at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, 4250 W. Houston St., Broken Arrow. Burial will be 2:00 pm Thursday at Memorial Park Cemetery, Tulsa.

Ninde Funeral Directors, Brookside Chapel (918) 742-5556 | ninde.com