Maria de Lourdes Richards

Maria de Lourdes Richards

October 8, 1945 to January 5, 2020

On Sunday night, January 5, 2020, Maria de Lourdes Richards, 74, of Clearfield, Utah, passed away peacefully at the Davis Hospital and Medical Center in Layton, UT, surrounded by family.

Maria was born in Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico on October 8, 1945, the daughter of Raymundo Martinez Salazar and Rosa Mendez Hernandez. She completed her K-12 education at Escuela Articulo 123 and attended university at Instituto Technologico de Ciudad; both in Madero.

During her life, she worked as an administrative assistant for the Secretaria de Marina with the Armada de Mexico (Mexican Navy), the Camino Real Hotel, a luxury resort near Miramar Beach in Tampico, TAM, Mexico, and for H.H. Fleishman, chemist and founder of Grupo Tampico (GT), the first company licensed to bottle Coca-Cola in all of Mexico. In the United States, Maria went on to work for Max Factor & Co. in Clearfield, UT, for nearly a decade on the production floor.

However, she found the greatest joy in life in her role as a wife, mother, and homemaker. She married the love of her life, Walter Henry Richards, on December 14, 1967, in the City of Elko, Nevada. They remained happily together until his death on June 29, 2006. She never remarried.

Maria enjoyed movies, reading (particularly, biographies), and keeping up with celebrity news and national politics. She was reserved yet charming; blessed with big brown eyes that could melt your heart and a child-like laughter that was contagious. Maria always saw the best in other people and exuded great warmth and kindness to family, friends, and strangers alike. 

Maria is survived by her siblings, Rosa (Jose) Amelia Martinez, Armando (Maria) Martinez Mendez, Raymundo (Rosa) Antonio Martinez Mendez, and Alejandro Martinez Mendez, her sons, Walt Richards, Ed (Carie) Richards, John Richards, and Ron (Paula) Richards, and her precious grandchildren, Nicole (Kavan) Nisguritzer, Dylan Richards, and Garrett Richards.

She is preceded in death by her father, mother, and husband.

Maria’s family would like to express thanks and gratitude to both the ICU staff of Davis Hospital & Medical Center and Rocky Mountain Hospice for providing her with comfort in her last days. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (pancan.org) or the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to fight childhood cancer (stjude.org).

A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 18, 2020 at 11 am at Aaron’s Mortuary, 1050 S State Street, Clearfield, UT. Afterwards, the final resting place of Maria’s ashes will be in a family plot at the Parroquia Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Salud de los Enfermos (Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Health of the Sick); a Catholic parish in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.