Sue Richardson, 74, of Ottumwa, passed away peacefully from cancer at 10:15 a.m. May 9, 2021 at Good Samaritan Society-Ottumwa.
James Leroy Richardson, 79, of Ottumwa passed away from complications of dementia, at 7:05 p.m., on May 9, 2021, at Good Samaritan Society- Ottumwa under hospice care. Exactly 8 hours and 50 minutes after his beloved wife, Sue, of 43 years went home to be with the Lord, he made the final step in his earthly journey, and joined her in the Life Ever Lasting.
Born in Ottumwa, the daughter of James and Hazel Reynolds, Sue was a retired music teacher as well as a choir director and organist many years ago. Above all, she treasured family, friends and her dogs. She loved adventures on the sailboat and trips on the motorcycle with her husband. Her interests included flower gardening, League of Women Voters and activities with her Beta Sigma Phi Sorority.
Jim was born in Ottumwa to James and Madeline Brown Richardson. He graduated from Ottumwa High School and started his career going to night school to become a draftsman. Over his lifetime he worked for several companies in the engineering departments and retired as an experimental engineer for John Deere Ottumwa Works.
He married Sharon Reinier and they had 3 children. They later divorced and then he met and married Sue Ward of Ottumwa.
His hobbies included woodworking, furniture making, and mission work. He was described by close friends as a humanitarian, his mission work in other countries involved rebuilding communities and churches and bringing clean drinking water to remote villages in Nigeria, helping in the Haiti relief efforts, and working with the United Methodist Conference. He was a proud, certified NRA handgun instructor, and for many years devoted his time to educating and training others about handgun safety.
But his biggest passion was sailing. During the “Storm of the Century” of 1993 he was on his first boat, the “Marah” (named after his first grandchild), and this would be his biggest challenge as a sailor. The storm stretched from Canada to Honduras and pounded the islands of Bimini, and yes, he weathered that storm, and lived to brag about it! But his best life was living aboard the “Indolence Pursued”. Many winters, he would drive to Florida where she was kept “on the hard”. He would spend a few weeks in the marina gently preparing and rigging her for sea. Enlisting the help of different friends, he would sail her across the channel to the Bahamas, where Sue would meet him to spend the winter months together. Life onboard the “Indolence” was his joy, hand fishing for his dinner, picking fruits from various islands, meeting people and making friends everywhere they went and living in the moment. He and Sue made so many lifelong friends during these adventures.
He would always sign off his email messages with: TLLU [Till Life Leaves Us]
Sue is survived by her children, Dave Ward and Liz (Brian) Cudworth; a grandson Clayton Cudworth; and a sister, Denise (Mark) Taylor.
Sue was preceded in death by her parents.
Left to honor Jim’s memory are his mother Madeline (97) who was with him every day she could until the end; and his brother Craig (Sue) Richardson of Ottumwa; his children, Kimberly Booth of Hampton, Kurt (Holly) Richardson of Pella, Kent “Jose” Richardson of Colorado; four grandchildren, Marah Booth, Taylor Booth, Sam Richardson and Colton Richardson; and 5 great- granddaughters.
Jim was preceded in death by his father Jim, and grandparents Howard and Mildred Brown and Ransome and Myrna Richardson and a son-in-law, Michael Booth.
Jim’s body has been cremated. Joint visitation for Jim and Sue will begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 12th, at Reece Funeral Home with the family present to greet friends from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday. Sue’s body will be cremated after the visitation.
Joint memorial services for Jim and Sue will be 2 p.m. Thursday, May 13th at Reece Funeral Home with Pastor Bill Hornback officiating. For those unable to attend you may watch it live on the Reece Funeral Home Facebook page. Private inurnment will be in Shaul Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials for Sue may be made to First Presbyterian Church or Heartland Humane Society.
In lieu of flowers, memorials for Jim may be made to Good Samaritan Society-Ottumwa Home Health and Hospice or The Alzheimer’s Association.
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