John Lionel Richards

GREENFIELD--The fishing world has suffered a great loss with the passing of John L. Richards, 64, on February 23, 2017 at his residence surrounded by his loving family. He was born July 6, 1952 in Beaufort, SC a son of Ronald and Eleanor (Marshman) Richards.

John’s passion in life, following his family, was fishing. John spent decades perfecting his fishing abilities across uncounted lakes, ponds, streams and rivers. In his final years as a fisherman he pursued a passion for landing large salmon on a fly rod, an obsession that would take him to places like the Salmon River in New York and the Restigouche River in Canada. John never shied away from a long day of fishing whether trolling with his wife and children hunkered low in the bow of a boat, ice fishing with his brothers, or heading to Grand Lake Stream on opening day.

Friends and family were the most important thing to him. He was a jack of all trades and a master of helping friends and family with home improvements, car repairs, and more. When doing so he rarely took a lunch break and never asked for anything in return. John was the type of person that didn't wait for others to ask for help before offering it. In John’s world there was no reason for something to be broken, and he made sure you knew that.

John always had funny sayings for things. He had a goofy sense of humor and often repeated common quips or re-phased them. “Chicken pot pie and I don’t care”. He often spoke in a code that only he know. He was competitive and took card games seriously. You don’t want him to teach you “jacks or better trips to win”. He loved his children’s dogs and nick named them Ella Della Do and Tyboneous. He was fearless when it came to canoeing rivers and navigating white water.

He was an ironworker of local 496 and had many union “brothers”.

He is survived by his soulmate and companion of 46 years, his wife Starr (Corliss) Richards; two children Jessica LaBree and her husband Lucas, Jared Richards and his wife Lizbeth; two granddaughters Livianna and Poppy and grandson Leo; his mother Eleanor, sister Kathy Thompson and her husband Sam; two brothers Ronald Richards and his wife Debbie, Christopher Richards and his wife Christy; many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his father in 20006.

A celebration of his life gathering will be conducted 4-7PM Monday at the Birmingham Funeral Home 438 Main St Old Town where a time of remembrance and story telling will begin at 6PM. Memorial contributions in his memory may be made to Maine Youth Fish and Game Association PO Box 337 Stillwater, ME 04489 or Lafayette Family Cancer Center c/o EMHS Foundation PO Box 931 Bangor, ME 04402 or www.emhsfoundation.org