Joe M. Richardson

Joe Martin Richardson passed away on December 15, 2015, at the Big Bend Hospice Family House in Tallahassee, after a valiant struggle with ALS. He was two days shy of his eighty-first birthday. He was born on December 17, 1934, in Stella, Missouri. After being drafted into the Army and serving in Germany, he attended Southwest Missouri State University, and then earned an MA and a PhD from Florida State. His first teaching job was at the University of Mississippi, but he soon returned to FSU, where he taught for 40 years, retiring emeritus in 2005. He published numerous books and articles on African-American history. He lived his life in the service of others, and devoted his time and boundless energy to helping anyone who might experience a need, so he will be loved and remembered by countless people whose lives he touched.

He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Patricia Lively Richardson; his two children, Leslie Richardson and Joseph Richardson; and his sisters Nancy Hines and Dorothy Brock; as well as a grandson, Cortland Phillips; a godson, David Bennett; and three god-grandchildren, Kaitlin Mitchell, and Kiersten and Zak Hopkins.

Visitation and reception will be held at Culley’s MeadowWood Funeral Home, 1737 Riggins Road, on Sunday, December 20, at 4:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Big Bend Hospice or to the scholarship fund in Joe Richardson’s name at Florida State University.