- Richards -
Alphabetically Indexed
Richards, Anna Elizabeth
The Rock County Star Herald, Thursday, July 31, 1947
Born 9 December 1892; died 28 Jul 1947
Richards Rites Held Wednesday
Heart Attack Fatal To Mrs. Earl Richards, 54, Early Monday Morning
Funeral services for Mrs. Earl Richards, 54, of Luverne, were held yesterday
afternoon at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Pastor Martin Hausen
officiating. Interment was in the Worthington Cemetery. Pallbearers were
Anton Reynolds, W.H. Winkler, Ed Baker, Hubart McClure, Floyd Lawson, and
Lee Boland. Smith Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Death came to Mrs. Richards at 1:30 a.m. Monday at the home of her daughters
here, following a heart attack. She had been ailing for about two months.
Anna Elizabeth Jensen was born December 9, 1892 at Fremont, Nebr and spent
most of her life there and at Omaha before coming to Luverne, October 27,
1921. She was married to Earl Stephen Richards at Pipestone on September
27, 1923. She was preceded in death by him on April 2, 1945.
She is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Orlando (Edith) Skattum, and Mrs.
George (Hilda) Carsrud, both of Luverne; five grandchildren; a brother,
Arthur Jensen, Irene, SD; three sisters, Mrs. Charles Mayer, Waconda, SD;
Mrs. Irwin Jensen, Hurley, SD, and Mrs. Elsie Peterson, Viborg, SD, and two
half-brothers, Victor and Francis Jensen, both of Los Angeles, Calif.
She was a member of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Luverne.
~Submitter, Lin Ziemann (family researcher)
Richards, Earl Stephen
Unknown Publication, April 1945
Born 01 May 1893; died 02 Apr 1945
Victim of Laverne Fire
Apparently Met Death By Suffocation Monday
Earl Richards, 51-year-old Luverne section foreman, who met death apparently by suffocation in the burning of his house there Monday, was a native of Graham Lakes and a son of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Richards, both deceased, who are buried at Dundee.
He is survived by his second wife, and twin daughters, Mrs. Orlando Skattum, Cedar Falls, IA., and Mrs. George Karsrud, whose husband is in the service. Both daughters by his first wife, the former Hilda Olson, daughter of the Charles Olson’s, pioneer Bigelow Township family.
Other survivors are four sisters, Mrs. August King, Bigelow; Mrs. Orrie Hansen, Luverne; Mrs. Harry Hart, Tracy, and Mrs. Matt McLeod, Flint, MI.
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Albert Lea Evening Tribune, April 2, 1945
Man at Luverne Suffocates in Fire.
Luverne, Minn., April 2 –(AP)—Earl Richards, 51, section foreman for the Rock Island railroad, died of suffocation early today when his house was destroyed by fire. He was alone. Coroner C. O. Wright said the blaze apparently started from a cigarette.
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Rock County Star Herald, April 5, 1945
Luverne Man Loses Life When Home Burns Here
Earl Richards, 51, Dies When Home Burns Here
Suffocation Claims Life of Rock Island Section Foreman Early Monday Morning.
Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. today at the Smith Funeral Home for Earl Richards, 51, of Luverne, who died of suffocation when fired gutted his home on East Maple street early Monday.
Rev. A. N. Williams, pastor of the First Baptist Church, will officiate and burial will be in Woodlawn cemetery, at Worthington.
Pallbearers will be Ernest Willroth, Ed Baker, Anton Reynolds, W. L. Caley, W. H. Winkler, and Ed Harders.
Richard’s body was found in the burning dwelling by firemen who had been summoned about 3 a.m. Monday. According to Coroner C. O. Wright, his death was due to suffocation, although his body was partially burned before it could be removed. He was home alone at the time, as his wife was spending the night with her aunt, Mrs. Chris Rasmussen, on North McKenzie street.
The fire was noticed by Harvey Olson, and Hugh Maxwell, Luverne high school students. Seeing smoke coming out of the house, young Maxwell turned in the fire alarm and notified police officer Ryan, while young Olson summoned his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Anton Olson, who live almost directly across the street from the Richards home, and Mr. and Mrs. Hobart McClure, who also live nearby. He then attempted to break into the house through the front door, but upon opening the doors, the heat and smoke were so intense, he was unable to go further. He broke the window to a bedroom where Mr. Richards had been sleeping, but was unable to locate anyone.
Despite the high wind, the firemen were able to bring the blaze under control sufficiently to enter the building, and it was then that Richards body was found near a window at the front of the house, not from the front door. He was clad in sleeping garments, and the fact that there were some bed clothes near seems to prove that he had noticed the fire, and that he had been overcome by the smoke while trying to smother the blaze.
Just what caused the blaze is a mystery. In the opinion of some of the firemen, it could have been a cigarette, which had not been properly extinguished and had ignited something inflammable, or it may have been a defective furnace. Neighbors said that Richards had mentioned that the furnace had not been operating as it should, and the would “have to fix it one of these days.”
The worst damage seemed to be in the vicinity of the bedroom where he slept, although about all that remained of the house was the shell, the interior and contents having been almost entirely destroyed by the fire.
Mr. Richards had been a resident of Luverne since 1918, during which time he had served as section foreman for the Rock Island railroad here. Prior to coming to Luverne, he lived at Worthington, where he was also employed as a railroad section worker. He had been employed by the Rock Island company for 33 years.
Earl Stephen Richards was born on a farm in Graham Lakes township, Nobles county, May 1, 1893. He lived on a farm during his boyhood in Nobles county, and at Worthington and Kinbrae before moving to Luverne in 1918. He was twice married, his first wife being Hilda Olson. They became the parents of twin daughter, Mrs. George Carsrud, of El Paso, Texas, and Mrs. O. M. Skattum, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His first wife died in 1921, and on September 27, 1923, he married Anna E. Winther, at Pipestone. In addition to his widow and two daughters, he is survived by two grandchildren, and four sisters, Mrs. Laura Hansen, Luverne, Mrs. Norman McCleod, Flint, Mich., Mrs. Harry Hart, of Tracy, and Mrs. August King of Bigelow. One brother and two sisters preceded him in death.
~Submitter, Lin Ziemann (family researcher)
Richards, Hilda Elevira
Rock Co. Herald, February 18, 1921
Born 30 Dec 1893; died 16 Feb 1921
Mrs. Earl S. Richards passed away Wednesday morning at 11 o’clock, at her home in this city, her death being due to complications following child birth. Mrs. Richards had at first seemed to be doing quite well, but her condition has been regarded as critical for the past week or more.
She leaves besides her husband, the little twin daughters, Edith Luverne and Beatrice Hilda, twelve days old, and also her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Olson, and three brothers, Halmar, Carl, and Kenneth, of Worthington.
Hilda Elevira Olson was born December 30th, 1893, at Chicago, Ill., and came with her parents to Worthington in 1912. She was married to Mr. Richards January 3rd, 1917, at Worthington. They had since made their home in this city.
Funeral services will be held Sunday afternoon at 2 o’clock at the home of her parents, at Worthington.
Mrs. Richards was a woman of many admirable qualities, and during her residence here had won the esteem of a large circle of acquaintances, all of whom deeply sympathize with the bereaved husband and other relatives, in the loss which her death occasions.
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Mrs. Earl S. Richards
Unknown Worthington newspaper, dated Feb 1921
Mrs. Earl S. Richards died at her home at Luverne, Minn., February 16th, 1921. Funeral services were held at the Swedish Lutheran church on Sunday, February 20.
Hilda Elvira Carolina Olson was born in Chicago, Ills., December 30, 1893. She came to Minnesota in 1912 and was married to Earl S. Richards January 3d, 1917.
Those left to mourn her departure are her husband, Earl S. Richards, and two little twin girls twelve days old, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Olson and three brothers, Hjalmar, Carl, and Kenneth.
On account of the inclemency of the weather, and bad roads, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kinsman kindly offered their home to which the body of Mrs. Richards was brought and kept until the time of the funeral. Rev. Elof Peterson conducted funeral services, and interment was made in Worthington cemetery.
~Submitter, Lin Ziemann (family researcher)
Buried together, one tombstone, Worthington Cemetery
MNGenWeb 2015
