David Richards

David possessed an extraordinary mind and a gentle heart. He carried the weight of responsibility, caring deeply for his family's well-being, service to his country, and the love of God.

A life-long learner, David graduated from Austin High School as the drum major and in the top ten of his class. He received undergraduate degrees in Physics, Mathematics and Business Administration; and went on to receive graduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Aerospace with studies in Analytic Mechanics, Transistor Physics & Circuitry, Mathematical Physics, Atomic Spectroscopy. At the time, he was the oldest civilian to receive an advanced degree from The Air Force Institute of Technology. He also attended UTEP, John Carroll University, Ohio State University, and the University of Dayton.

He served his country in the U.S. Army during the Korean War as a officer in the Battalion Commander's staff. After his honorable discharge, he began work as a public and then private accountant opening his own thriving accounting business. During this time he played in the El Paso Symphony as a timpanist. When President Kennedy made the call for the United States to land on the moon, David answered. He was selected to serve his country as a civilian Aerospace Engineer for NASA at the Lewis Research Center in Cleveland Ohio. While there he was part of many unmanned space program teams such as Ranger, Mariner, and EOGO. These were exciting years filled with camaraderie and innovation. He went on to work as a civilian for the U.S. Air Force's Foreign Technology Division, including a year of service, staffed in the Executive White House, under President Jimmy Carter. David retired after over thirty years of service to the United States Government.

In his later years he re-ignited his passion for music and played piano soulfully, beautifully from his gentle heart. He became a world traveler and a nature lover. He gained the love of his Kettering, OH community members, who were full of compassion toward him when his health began to decline.

David was a man who changed from a staunch Republican into a true blue Democrat; who developed from an accountant to a rocket scientist; and who found a passion for the natural beauty and people of his Ohio home while keeping Texas in his heart.

David is survived by his devoted wife of 55 years, Lizabeth Richards; his two children, Susanna Richards Fassberg and Virginia Glasz Richards; his loving grandchildren Sam, Willem, Cosmo, and Katherine; his sister Myrna Wolf; sisters-in-law Pat Peters and Jean Gardner; brother-in-law Charles W. Gardner; nieces and nephews Karla Wolf Niemi, Anna Wolf Rossow, Kris Wolf, Andrea Peters, John Peters, Martha Kilpatrick, and Frank Peters; and sons-in-law Matthew Fassberg and Thijs Glasz. In the kingdom of heaven, he will join his beloved mother and father Elizabeth Abdou Richards and William 'King' Doyle Richards; and recently deceased and beloved nephew Kenneth Wolf.

Funeral Service will be Thursday, January 23, 2014 at 1 p.m., with the viewing at 12 p.m., at Harding Orr & McDaniel Funeral Home, 320 Montana Ave., El Paso, TX. Interment in the Abdou Family burial site will follow at Evergreen Alameda Cemetery. Services will be officiated by The Reverend William C. Cobb of The Church of St. Clements.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in tribute to David Richards to The Alzheimer’s Assoc. www.alz.org or 1.800.272.3900.

Arrangements under the direction of Funeraria Del Angel Harding-Orr, El Paso, TX.