Harold Wendell

Richmond

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IN LOVING MEMORY

Harold Wendell Richmond

Feb 01 1929 - Apr 14 2021

Harold Wendell Richmond, 92, of Plano, Texas died peacefully in his home April 14, 2021. His sweet wife, Joyce, took loving care of him until the end.

He was born in a small farmhouse near Miller, Nebraska to Wendell and Mabel Richmond. He was raised with his three siblings: two younger brothers, Wesley and Robb, and sister Eloise.

When he was eight years old, the family moved near Ontario, Oregon. His parents bought eighty acres of sagebrush land, which they turned into a successful dairy farm.

He attended Eastern Oregon College and the University of Washington, graduating with a degree in Physics.  After a five-month bicycle trip through Europe, he was drafted into the Army. He trained at Fort Ord, California, and then spent two years in Yokohama, Japan during the Korean War.  After being discharged. he took his first job in Port Mugu, California, doing data reduction for flight testing guided missiles. 

In 1953, he proposed to Beth Markham.  They were married and sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple a year later. They first lived in Venice, California, then in New Jersey where he was a programming manager for the new Air Force Command and Control System, serving the Strategic Air Command underground headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. During these years, he served in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a high counselor, bishop, and counselor to the stake president of the New Jersey Stake.

In 1973, he moved his family to Dallas, Texas where he served as a member of the stake high council, and then as a counselor in the Dallas North Stake Presidency. In November of 1977, he was called to serve as the first president of the Plano Texas Stake.  After his release, he was then called to be a Regional Representative with assignments in Texas and Oklahoma, and as a member of the Dallas Temple Committee.  In March of 1986, he was called and set apart as a sealer and served 25 years in the Dallas Texas Temple.

In March of 1996, his wife, Beth Ann, suddenly passed away. In 1997, he married Joyce Riggs in the Dallas Temple.  After retiring from EDS in 1998, they immediately left to serve a two-year mission in Hawaii in the little village of Hana.

In 2015, out of a love for genealogy and family history, they asked to serve in the Family and Church History Mission in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were there for sixteen months and were part of the testing of the new FamilySearch software.

Harold was a true patriot and appreciated living in America. For many years, he sat with family on the side of the streets of Plano to watch the Fourth of July Parade.  He also studied the founding of America and the constitution extensively so he could make informed decisions.

Harold is survived by his wife, Joyce Richmond, and his children, Lisa and husband Kim Tollefson of Mesa, Arizona; Mark and wife Klarise Richmond of Fishers, Indiana; Nola and husband Dee Hiatt of Plano, Texas; Daniel Richmond of Plano, Texas; Kenneth and wife Sarah Richmond of Sparta, Michigan; Sheila and husband Keith Bartlett of McKinney, Texas; and Greg and wife Kristen Richmond of McKinney, Texas.  He is also survived by his stepchildren, Gary Riggs of Dallas Texas; Mark and wife Leslie Riggs of Palisades, Washington; Shari and husband Brad Buehrig of Payson, Utah; Susan and husband Dennis Richmond of Murphy, Texas and Lorrie Riggs of Portland, Oregon, and also by His brother Robb and wife Shirley Richmond of Dike, Texas; and sister Eloise Lauritsen of Des Moines, Washington and sister-in-law, Val Richmond. He has 56 grandchildren, 80 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren and one more to be born July of this year.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Verner and Mabel Richmond, his first wife Beth Richmond, brother Wesley Richmond, and grandson, Mark Richmond, Jr.

Memorial donations may be made to a non-profit foundation:

Harold Richmond Memorial

Benjamin Franklin Center

251 S 1200 East

Payson, UT 84651

(please note in the memo field of your check that it is for Harold’s Memorial)

A “come and go” visitation will be held on April 26th, 2021 from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., at the Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home, 2525 North Central Expressway, Allen, Texas 75013. Only a limited number of guests will be allowed to enter the funeral home facility at any one time to maintain social distancing. Covid restriction will apply, and masks are required.

A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2700 Roundrock, Plano, Texas. Covid restriction will apply, and masks are required.

Interment will be at the Ridgeview Memorial Park, also at 2525 North Central Expressway, Allen, Texas. Covid restrictions apply, and a mask is required.

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Memorials

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