Ann Elaine Richardson

Ann Elaine (Carter) Richardson, beloved wife of James P. Richardson II, was born to Finis Ewin and Margaret Emma (Walker) Carter on September 10, 1935 in San Angelo, Tom Green County, Texas, the second of three children. Her parents relocated to McCamey, Upton County, Texas when she was but a few months old; she called McCamey “home” until she graduated from McCamey High School in 1953 to continue her education at the University of Texas in Austin. She had initially thought she would like to be a nurse but found her real calling in foods. She had some difficulty with chemistry in school until an observant and concerned teacher reminded her that chemistry was much like her avocation, cooking; it was just that the ingredients were different. That advice changed everything; she majored in Home Economics with an emphasis on foods and cooking through to her graduation from The University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics on the 1st day of June 1957 intending to continue her studies to become a certified dietitian, thereby combining her two major interests. Although becoming a certified dietitian never came to fruition, she did earn her Master of Science degree from Corpus Christie State University on August 16, 1991. Ann spent the year of 1958 in San Antonio, Texas, teaching school during which she met a young man who swept her off her feet. She returned to Austin and worked as a dietitian at Seton Hospital while he finished school, ultimately also graduating from the University. They were married on 31 January 1959 and relocated, first to Houston then to El Paso, in the early Fall of 1960 where they remained with their two children.

Ann taught Home Economics in several high schools within the El Paso Independent School District for 39 years; the longest tenure of more than 25 years was at Stephen F. Austin High School where, for the last 20 years she taught a co-op program in which students attended formal classes and worked in home economics related jobs for which they received credit towards their graduation from high school. Some of her former students remain in contact with her. She retired from the El Paso School District in May 2001.

Following a divorce in May 1976, she met James P. (Jim) Richardson, also a graduate of the University of Texas in Austin and a practicing architect in El Paso, in a gourmet cooking class in El Paso where they discovered several other mutual interests including music, interior design, gardening, entertaining, travel, continuing education, and their abiding faith. She was a stalwart member of St. Paul’s Lutheran church for over fifty years; both she and Jim sang in the choir there until the church’s virtual dissolution. They are now members of St. Clements Anglican Church where they both also sang in the choir until her health began to fail. They were married by the Rev. Dr. Alfred Belles on 25 June 1977 and celebrated their 44th Wedding Anniversary together a few days before her death at home on June 30, 2021 with Jim at her bedside.

She was an active member and served on the Board of both the El Paso Woman’s Club and the El Paso Retired Teachers’ Association. Ann was a member and officer of the Desert Hills Garden Club; her floral arrangements and tablescapes frequently were judged “Best of Show” at the annual Garden Show. She spent nearly sixty years as a member of Las Amigas Study Club, a local social and philanthropical organization dedicated to creating “a social and intellectual atmosphere for the promotion of individual growth.” She and Jim discovered the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UTEP where they met many new friends, re-established older, long-time relationships, and enjoyed the thrill, comradery, and pleasure of learning by attending classes on a wide variety of topics. Together with three other couples, she and Jim helped establish a Gourment Group who, for 27 years, met two to three a year to enjoy one another’s company over an elaborately planned and executed gourmet meal with paired wines which rotated amongst the four homes.

Ann was preceded in death by both her parents and her brother, Robert Ewin Carter. She is survived by her husband, her young sister, Gay Beth Carter of Las Vegas, New Mexico; her son, Alan Wayne Uecker (Jill) of Spring Branch, Texas; two granddaughters, Megan Elizabeth Uecker and Rachel Kaitlyn Uecker; and her daughter, Sherri Ann (Uecker) Gabberty (Kevin) of St. Petersburg, Florida.

A Memorial Service will be held at the Church of St. Clement, 810 North Campbell in El Paso, Texas, Saturday, 31 July 2021 at 10:00 o’clock AM. A short reception will be held in the Mayfield Room following the service. It is requested that, in lieu of flowers, those who wish to do so make a contribution to their favorite charity in Ann’s name. The urn containing her ashes will be returned to the her husband awaiting the time when he will join her; there will be no interment service

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MartinFuneralHomeWest.com for the Richardson family.