Mary P. Richards

is honored with a Brick from Judy L. Dries, CPS.

In memory of Mary Patricia Thompson Richards (January 11, 1939-April 3, 1995)....
My mother, was born at St. Mary's Hospital in London, England to Margaret and James Thompson. Much of her school days during the War were spent in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland, where she lived with her sister and grandparents. She has one sister, Midge, and three brothers, David, Stan, and Anthony. Their nickname for Mom was "Wally." My Uncle David tells me that she had a crush on a milkman named Wally when she was a teenager.

She married Allen Robert Brix in London in 1958. Germany was the next destination for them, then Lowery Air Force Base in Denver. Denver is where my sister Tracy and I were born. The Air Force then sent my father to Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1961. Remembering... Mom taught us "God Bless America" in Hawaii and had us sing it each night before going to bed. Maybe that was because she became a naturalized citizen (her name is also on The Wall of Emigrants at Ellis Island) while in Hawaii. She loved the United States and would chastise anyone who criticized it, even her children. She was very patriotic.

Another unique memory of Hawaii was while working at a Kodak Kiosk at the airport, she caught a glimpse of Elvis during the making of his movie "Blue Hawaii." She used to take us to that job and show us movies of volcanoes. Three years was the tour in Hawaii at which time they made the trek to Kansas, where my father was stationed at McConnell Air Force Base. Mom loved Kansas, especially the wide open spaces. After a couple of unaccompanied tours of duty overseas in Korea and Thailand, they divorced. Then she married Jack Richards. Jacqueline Christina Richards Matson was born August 13, 1970 and her only son, James Andrew Richards was born to her February 8, 1972.

When Tracy and I were children, she would sew and knit all of our clothes. She was a very skilled knitter and taught knitting classes at the old Boulevard Sears Store. Our Mother didn't come up with any amazing cures of discoveries. Her interests were in her family, friends, dogs, and horses. Pembroke Welsh Corgis were her dog of choice and she raised and showed them for 30 years. We thought all children attended dog shows every weekend. When Tracy was in grade school a teacher asked her, "What was the most important thing to be done in our home," she replied "Feed the dogs." Tracy also once told her teacher that our mother had come over on the Mayflower.

Jacque soon began to show an interest in horses, an interest Mother and her soon shared showing American Saddlebreds. Jacque wrote to an Arabian breeder in California who was giving away a horse to a 4-H'er. Can you imagine the shock when my mother received the phone call saying that she could come and pick the horse up? Jacque didn't get the horse. But she had many others after.

Mother was always there for her children. She loved them through their successes and their failures. Being a devout Irish Catholic, she encouraged us to seek solace in church; if we had a success "Go to church and thank God" and if we had a failure "Go to church and ask God to help you." She helped us to achieve many good character qualities: compassion, concern for others, a belief in ourselves, a sense of humor (she had an amazing sense of humor and could find humor in the worst of situations), and that British fortitude to "Keep a stiff upper lip" during times of crisis.

She developed debilitating asthma when I left for college, but that never stopped her. She was always taking care of others less fortunate than herself. Her standard was the usual mother standard: "treat others as you yourself would want to be treated." Her grandchildren, Angela and Jennifer Goble, had become the light of her life. She cherished every moment with them and spoiled them rotten. A grandson, Sean Douglas Matson, was born a year after her death and she would have cherished him as well. We believe that she does from above. We think of her as their guardian angel.

Mother loved family, friends, Cadbury chocolate, Fruit Pastilles (English candy), Tasha Tudor, her Corgis, and her Saddlebreds. Mary was never a "Donna Reed" mother , but she was unique to me. She was my heroine, my best fiend, and I miss her terribly!

Submitted by Judy Brix Dries, Wappingers Falls, New York

July 7, 1998