Roy Richards

Memorial Service: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Broadus.

Roy Duane Richards, age 83, of Broadus passed away on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at the Powder River Manor in Broadus.

Roy Duane Richards, the son of Irvin and CeCelia (Genre) Richards, was born on August 27, 1926, in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, the eldest of four children. He was the only boy with sisters Vera, and twins Nina and Nona. Nina died at age six weeks and the three siblings grew up together on the home ranch at Box Elder. He went to school in the country at Hawks Home through grade school and attended Carter County High School in Ekalaka. When the war came he went to work on the family ranch full-time because hired hands were in short supply. He and his father ranched together raising sheep and cows for many years. He took flying lessons in 1945 from Clyde and Cecil Ice and got his private pilots license in 1947. He met Katherine Hespe and was impressed with her mile-long legs. Kays brother Herb at that time worked for William Tauck who was their next door neighbor. Roy married Kay on September 21, 1947 in a double wedding with Richard and Celia (Owen) Yates. The bride and groom spent about a year at Ridgeway, Montana running a small country store for her brother Henry Hespe. After this they returned to the ranch to live. Roy taught his dad to fly, then soloed his wife Kay, and then his son Duane. He soloed each of them on the same piece of ground. Roy and Kay had five children, four girls and a boy. Roy said he got four queens and a joker. In November 1970, the family leased the ranch to Roys brother-in-law, Sam Tauck, and moved to Boyes, Montana where they ran a grocery store and Kay became the Postmaster until her death in 1975. Roy married Veronica Sikorski in 1976. In the fall of 1979 Roy and his son Duane resumed operation of the family ranch. Roy moved to Broadus in June of 2004 where he lived until his death. While living in Broadus he was an invaluable part of the community with his fix-it business. His grandchildren loved to say that grandpa could fix anything with next to nothing! Roy also crafted many beautiful things from wood using red diamond willow he found on the ranch. He was generous by gifting people with these items.

Roy is survived by his sister Vera Tauck and brother-in-law William (Stub) Stubblefield; his children, Lucky Teigen of Newcastle, WY, Colleen (Bruce) Brunner of Newell, SD, Charita (Kevin) Brunner of Edgemont, SD, and Duane (Melinda) Richards of Hammond, MT, and twelve grandchildren: Tansie Teigen, Tennille Straub, J.O. Teigen, Adrienne Lewis, Stacy Sowerby, Candace Gustafson, Neil Brunner, Matthew Brunner, Paul Brunner, Steven Brunner, Jeremy Richards, and Everly Richards. He had nine great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

Preceding him in death were his parents, Irvin and CeCelia Richards, step-mother, Ruby Richards, his wife Katherine, his daughter Linda Dawn, and sisters Nina and Nona (William) Stubblefield.

A Memorial service will be held on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Broadus. Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home of Broadus is in charge of the arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Powder River Manor, Powder River Medical Center or a charity of one's choice.