James T. Richard

Richard, James Thomas Age 77, died unexpectedly of natural causes Saturday, July 9th, 2016 at his vacation home in Muskegon, Michigan.

He is survived by his wife, Alice Richard; his two daughters, Kimberlee (Ryan) Richard Steele and Corie (George) Richard Kaniamos; his four young grandsons, Thomas Kaniamos, Theodore Kaniamos, Max Kaniamos, and Dalton Steele; his brothers, Don (Colome) Richard, Dave (Ruth) Richard, Joe (Christine) Richard; his sister, Julie Jerry) Richard Edgley; and his stepdaughters: Marianne (Larry) Scowden, Laura (Doug) Yntema, Susan (Chris) Timmer, Catherine Black. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend and will be greatly missed.

James was born in Alpena Michigan on May 3, 1939 to Evelyn and Eugene Richard. He grew up in Alpena with his 3 brothers and 1 sister, graduated from Alpena Catholic Central in 1957, served in the US Air Force for 4 years, and then began a long successful career as a sales executive with Xerox. Over his lifetime he lived in Traverse City MI, Kentwood MI, Rockford MI, Venice FL, and Sun City FL. He married Barbara (Kellie) Belka Richard on April 26, 1973. In their 30 years of marriage, they had two daughters Kimberlee Richard Steele and Corie Kaniamos, several profitable businesses and fun family vacations. With his daughters attending Michigan State University, he became a loyal Spartan and loved traveling throughout the United States with friends and family to support them. Though his marriage did not continue, they remained good friends.

He remarried on July 5th, 2008 to Alice Norton and expanded his family with an additional 4 step-daughters: Marianne, Laura, Susan and Cathy. He continued his love of travel with Alice on cross-country train rides, cruises and an Alaskan adventure. In his retirement he split his time between Sun City FL (he wasn’t fond of the cold Michigan winters ), Holland MI, and Muskegon MI. In Muskegon he spent as much time as possible at the Elks Park, which was one of his favorite places to be. There he enjoyed walking on the beach at Lake Michigan, playing with his grandsons, and visiting with his friends and family.

Always one to keep busy, he never really got the hang of retirement and continued on with a variety of other activities, most recently being a volunteer ambulance driver for the Sun City Center Emergency Squad. He loved helping people and continued doing so until his final days.

The family will receive guests Friday July 15th from 1-3pm at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church, 480 152nd Ave, Holland, MI 49424 with a memorial mass immediately following at the same location.

Please feel free to share your memories of Jim in the comments below – we would love to hear your favorite memories of him.