Joseph Morris Richards |
| Posted 2009-06-28 by Pat Wilson |
| The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona January 11, 1999 Joseph "J." Morris Richards, a former state senator from Navajo County and an Arizona historian, died Jan. 5, 1999, in Orem, Utah. He was 92. A conservative Democrat, Sen. Richards served three terms in the Senate, from 1957 to 1963. "As a senator, he understood the state and knew its problems," former Senate President Stan Turley said. "He was a dedicated Arizonan and loved the history here." Sen. Richards spent 11 years compiling a 20-volume history of the Legislature from 1911 - just before statehood - through 1966. Although the records have not been published, the 10,000 pages he compiled are kept in the State Library and Archives on microfiche. Sen. Richards was born Oct. 18, 1906, in Joseph City, Ariz., the fourth of 11 children. In 1929, he received a bachelor's degree in education from Northern Arizona Teachers College, which became Northern Arizona University. He earned a master's degree in education and English from the University of Arizona. He began working as a reporter and news editor at the weekly Winslow Daily Mail in 1929. After serving in the Army during World War II, Sen. Richards returned to Winslow and became publisher of the Daily Mail in 1947. He retired in 1965 when he became a professor at Brigham Young University's Communications Department. At BYU, Sen. Richards served as chairman of the department for five years, retiring in 1975. He was a visiting mass communications professor at Arizona State University for three years. Sen. Richards wrote many books on Arizona history, including Unflinching Courage, which dealt with the genealogy of Joseph City and was co-authored by Adele Bushman Westover. Sen. Richards also was director of Western Savings and Loan Association from 1937 to 1987. "He was active all of his life," his widow, Aloa Dixon Richards, said Saturday. In addition to his widow, Sen. Richards is survived by his daughter, Maria Christeena Brubaker son, D. Morris three sisters and eight grandchildren. Services were held Wednesday at A.L. Moore-Grimshaw Mortuaries Sunnyslope Chapel, 614 E. Townley Ave., Phoenix. |
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