United States Army Air Corp. World War II Veteran
In his younger days before starting to school in Kennsbury, Illinois, Ben H. Richardson lived in several different places.
He was born in Skelton, Indiana on February 18, 1913. Skelton was made up of Ben's family home, a country store, and a grain elevator on the railroad which went through the town.
His family moved to Mt. Carmel, Illinois when he was two weeks old in fear of losing their home to the spring flood.
They lived in Mt. Carmel a little while before moving to a small town a few miles away named Cowling. His family lived in Cowling until World war I and moved to his mother's father's farm.
The family finally settled in Keensbury, Illinois where Ben went to school and graduated in 1930.
He lived a normal boy's life in a small town. The boys roamed the country, finding the good swimming holes in Coffee Creek and the Wabash River.
His mother and sister attended the First Christian Church in Keensbury and he later joined at a revival when he was seventeen.
His father owned a ford truck that he used to bring truck loads of apples, watermelons, cantaloupes, and other produce to sell all around southern Illinois. His father earned the nickname "Dirty Schemer" when a Keensbury friend learned that he sold his produce he bought a a good profit. Ben later earned the nickname "Little Dirty Schemer."
After finishing high school Ben got his first job. It was tough during the depression to get a job. He ran a service station for his dad and a few of his dad's friends. He was paid six dollars a week.
He saved up $110 and started college in Charleston, Illinois. Ben majored in Science and minored in English.
After graduating from the Teachers College, he got his first teaching job in the high school in Oakland. He was the science teacher and assistant athletic coach of basketball, football, and track.
At the end of the 1940-1941 school year he was drafted into World War II.
Radio operators were needed in the Airforce and he was sent to Seatt Field, Illinois to complete radio operator school and later sent to Boca Rotan, Florida to complete radar school. He later became a radar teacher and taught for two years.
After serving a total of about three and a half years during World War II, he decided to go to graduate school at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.
Ben got his Master's Degree in Entomology and was working at a Texas Experiment Station in Winter Haven, Texas. Whle working there he became acquainted with Hector Williams family in Carriza Springs, Texas. Their daughter, Rose and Ben were married on October 30, 1948.
After working at the experiment station for two years he was told of an opening for a science teacher in Crosbyton. After the first year as a teacher at the high school, Ben became the science teacher at the junior high and coached the junior high school girls basketball team for 14 years.
Ben retired rom teaching in 1968, having completed 20 years of teaching in Crosbyton.
He retired from his work with farmers in 1986 and works as a volunteer with the third, fourth, and fifth grade reading programs in Crosbyton Elementary.
An interview by Lillian Moore with Ben H. Richardson, Crosbyton's oldest treasure
Published The Crosbyton Review, Friday, March 12, 2004, page 1
CROSBYTON (Special) — Services for Rose Richardson, 69, of Crosbyton will be at 2 p.m. Monday in Crosbyton First United Methodist Church with the Rev. Beth Harrington, pastor, officiating.
Graveside services will be in Crosbyton Cemetery with the Rev. Gerald Leatham, pastor of San Jose Catholic Church, officiating. Burial will be under direction of Adams Funeral Home.
She died at 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10, 1993, in Crosbyton Clinic Hospital.
She was born on Dec. 5, 1924, in Big Wells. She married Ben H. Richardson on Oct. 30, 1948, in Uvalde. She was a homemaker and a Catholic. She moved to Crosbyton from Carrizo Springs in 1957.
Survivors include her husband; two daughters, Pam Wilbur of Dolgeville, NY, and Kay Ballard of Plainview; three brothers, George Willems of Carizo Springs, Bill Willems of San Antonio and Joe Willems of Irving; two sisters, Jane Tynan of Bryan and Florence Kittel of San Antonio; and five grandchildren.
Published Lubbock Avalanche Journal, December 12, 1993
Record provided by Crosby County Pioneer Memorial Museum
transcribed by Linda Fox Hughes
Services for Ben H. Richardson, 91, of Crosbyton, were held at 2:00 PM, Friday, Apr. 23, 2004 at the Crosbyton First United Methodist Church with Rev. Johnnie Williams and Rev. Bob Kelley officiating.
Burial will follow in the Crosbyton Cemetery under the direction of Adams Funeral Home.
He passed away Sunday, Apr. 18, 2004 at the Crosbyton Hospital.
He was born Feb. 18, 1913 in Skelton, Indiana to Howard and Anna Florence Paramenter Richardson.
He married Rose Willems Oct. 30, 1948 in Ulvade, TX. They moved to Crosbyton in 1957 from Carrizo Springs, TX. She preceded him in death Dec. 10, 1993.
He was a member of the Crosbyton First United Methodist Church where he taught Sunday School for many years. He was a member of the Crosbyton Lions Club and was a big fan of girls basketball.
He taught science at Crosbyton Middle School and coached girls basketball for many years. He was also an entomologist.
He served in the Army Air Corp during WWII.
Ben is survived by two daughters and their husbands; Pam and Larry Wilbur of Dolgeville, New York, Kay and Don Ballard of Lubbock; five grandchildren; Katy Ballard, Daniel Ballard, Joshua Wilbur and wife Julie, Jeremiah Wilbur, Jessica Wilbur; and two great grandchildren.
Published The Crosbyton Review, Friday, Apr. 23, 2004, page 6.
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