RICHARDS, William D. (Bill)

The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona Tuesday, March 4, 2003 William (Bill) D. Richards, 82, of Mesa, passed away March 1, 2003. He was born in Renton, Washington on Mar 8th, 1920. He moved to Mesa in 1979 with his wife, Betty, of 55 years. He served in the Army in WWII in the Philippines. Bill was active in sports throughout his life, playing semi-pro baseball until the age of 30. His love from that time throughout the rest of his life was golf. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge of Seattle, Washington, the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, and the Nile Temple since 1959. He was preceded in death by his son Jim in 1991. Bill started working for his uncle in his butcher shop in Renton, Wa when he was 11 years old. He continued on in the meat business throughout his life there. After moving to Mesa he was employed at Birko Corp of Denver, Colorado as a sales rep, consultant in chemicals and sanitation to meat packing and processing businesses. He was active until the end. He is survived by his wife, Betty, daughter Judy of Seattle, and four grandsons. Memorial services will be 2:00 p.m. Friday, March 7th at Meldrum Mortuary, 52 N. MacDonald St., Mesa, In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to Hospice of the Valley, 1510 E. Flower St. Phoenix, AZ 85014. Courtesy of Pat Wilson.