Alice Freeman Copeland Richardson

The Blue Devil Nation lost a loyal member when Alice Copeland Richardson passed away at Croasdaile Village on September 3, 2017. Born in Ahoskie, NC on April 30, 1924 to the late Robert Royal and Bettie Sessoms Copeland, Alice was raised a staunch Carolina fan. She was mercifully converted to the royal blue way of life by her husband of 63 years, Rev. John Earl Richardson, a graduate of Duke Divinity School. Alice and Earl were married on June 9, 1954 and blessed with two children.

Alice, a graduate of East Carolina Teachers College at ECU, spent twenty years teaching math, science and home economics in the NC Public School System. As a beloved teacher and a legally blind minister, Alice and Earl were a dynamic duo, serving several ministerial appointments in the NC Methodist Conference. Upon retirement, they settled in Cary, NC until July 1999, when they moved to Croasdaile Village, a Methodist Retirement Community in Durham, NC.

Alice lived a life of self-less devotion to her family, her students, and her friends. She will be remembered for her quick wit, warm hugs, hand-knitted Christmas stockings, fried okra, and never missing a birthday.

She is preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Bob Copeland of Lafayette, LA; and her sisters, Elizabeth Copeland of Greenville, NC and Jane Holmes of Nags Head, NC. In addition, her son John Earl Richardson, Jr. of Newberry, SC died in 2000.

She is survived by her husband, John Earl Richardson of Durham, NC; daughter, Bettie Richardson Bailey and her husband Mike Bailey of Holly Springs, NC; daughter-in-law, Mary C. Richardson of Wilmington, NC; along with her grandchildren John Thomas Richardson of Wilmington, NC, Bryan Richardson of Seattle, WA, Erin Bailey Ellis and Hannah Bailey of Holly Springs and six great-grandchildren.

A Memorial will be held in the Memorial Chapel at Croasdaile Village in Durham on Friday, September 8, 2017 at 11:00 am. The family will greet friends immediately after the service. Interment will follow at Raleigh Memorial Park at 2:30 pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Croasdaile Benevolence Fund. Arrangements are by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Cary, NC.