Raymond E. Richardson

Raymond Eugene Richardson, 90, joined his beloved wife, Judy, in Heaven on Sunday, August 16, 2026, at home in Beach Park, IL. Ray was born April 20,1936, in Zion, IL to Esther and Vernon Richardson. 

The Serenity Prayer was very meaningful to Ray. 

Accept the things you cannot change: 

Ray experienced loss at an early age with the passing of his mother when he was only eight years old. Soon after he lost his 16 year old sister, Rosemary. His older brother, Paul, was overseas serving in WWII. However, Ray was fortunate to have Ed and Frannie Hildebrandt in his life. He spent many childhood summers and weekends with them in Grass Lake learning to fish and hunt. While disappointed he was not allowed to join the ZBTHS football team, as he was needed to work in the family business, he became a master at fixing nearly any car trouble that came his way. 

Courage to change the things you can: 

It was Frannie and Ed who encouraged Ray to join the Navy after high school graduation in 1954. The Navy provided Ray with a world tour on the USS Midway and two years in Hawaii. He would later spend time in the reserves and join the VFW. 

Ray graduated at the top of his class at Coyne Electrical School, helping fellow students who were struggling to succeed. Ray built both houses the family lived in. He wasn’t a carpenter or contractor by trade. He was just really good at all the things that go into building a house, including the foundation, plumbing and electricity. He customized the houses to include built in storage spaces, a laundry chute, a detection system for when the water well was low and even a security system to ward off intruders. 

Ray was a soft spoken man who rarely raised his voice. He almost never talked about himself. If you wanted to know something, you had to ask. He was the voice of reason to keep everyone steady, especially on Christmas Eve. While we were all opening presents and trying to put things together, he was reading the directions. When we failed, he stepped in like the hero he was, and put things together so they worked. 

Wisdom to know the difference:

Ray and Judy were introduced as pen pals through the conspiring of Frannie and his future mother-in-law while Ray was in the Navy in 1957 and married on April 4, 1959. They were blessed with four children, eight grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. Ray was active in his children’s and grandchildren’s lives throughout the years, whether it was coaching a baseball team, enjoying their music concerts and recitals or attending/filming their countless sporting events. He always put his family first, which sometimes meant working odd jobs like selling cars or delivering the mail. He always made sure we were taken care of and loved. 

Ray, a die hard Cubs fan, did not marry just any sports fan. He married a Cardinals fan. They once attended a Cubs/Cardinals game together at Wrigley Field, wearing their respective team gear. This drew the attention of a reporter from St. Louis, who then interviewed them on camera. Ray and Judy also enjoyed attending Milwaukee Bucks basketball games with friends, especially when Michael Jordan was playing. 

Ray loved Beach Park Schools. He attended the original Beach School, was in the first eighth grade graduating class from the newly opened Beach Park School and later worked in the district as the buildings and grounds maintenance supervisor for many years. Ray and Judy were Co-Presidents of the Band Boosters, where they made life-long friends and played pinochle together. Together they helped organize band camps, volleyball-a-thons, spaghetti dinners and other assorted activities, including a fun fair that required dressing up like clowns. Ray and Judy also chaperoned band trips and school dances. One of his most memorable roles was recreating the booming cannons while the band played the 1812 Overture at graduation. 

Ray and Judy raised their family in a wonderful neighborhood on Crissy Avenue for 31 years. The neighbors from Crissy and Ford were like no other. They quickly became family with the kids playing together all day and into the night until the streetlights came on. Ray loved a good gathering with the neighbors- hosting others for swimming, picnics, volleyball and other parties. He was also the go-to repairman in the neighborhood fixing cars, TVs, laundry machines and decks around the neighborhood. 

Ray was an active member of Our Lady of Humility Catholic Church for over 60 years: he was a member of St. Vincent de Paul, attended the first Men’s Christ Renews His Parish retreat and served as a lector. He especially enjoyed monthly Trivial Pursuit get-togethers with their OLH friends. 

We know Ray was greeted with open arms by so many of our family and friends who went before him up in heaven, and we can’t help but smile when we think of all those dogs Judy talked him into adopting that surely raced toward him. 

Ray is survived by his three children: Sheila Pope, Kent (Marty) Richardson, and Jana Donahue; four grandchildren: Trevor and Chad Pope, Caileigh and Jake Donahue, four step grandchildren: Gail (Gary) Koerner, Sara Feltman, Kevin (Nina) Bouvy and Keith Bouvy; three great-grandchildren: Jaxin, Jasper and Leilani Pope; ten step great-grandchildren: Jack, Caroline, Jane and Matthew Koerner; Ben, Joey and Dan Feltman; Ella, Dean and Ava Bouvy. He has many nieces, nephews and friends who will miss him dearly. 

He was preceded in death by his wife, Judy, his son Gary Raymond, his sister, Rosemary, his brother Paul and his wife Phyllis, his brother-in-law George and his wife Carol and his son in-law, Tom Donahue. 

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, October 10, 2026, at Our Lady Humility Catholic Church in Beach Park, IL. Visitation will be in the church from 9:00 A.M. until 10:00 A.M. with a funeral Mass immediately following. Interment at Ascension Cemetery in Libertyville, IL will be held on Monday, October 12, 2026, at 10:00 A.M. 

In lieu of flowers, Ray requested donations be made to The American Cancer Society.