Kathleen Richardson Greene

Kathleen “Kay” Richardson Greene, 96, passed away on Saturday, April 12, 2019, following a brief battle with cancer, at her home at the Summit in Lynchburg, VA, where she resided for more than 15 years and was one of its first residents.

She was born on November 22, 1922, in Buna, TX, youngest of the eight daughters and two sons of Richard Ira Richardson and Helen Caroline Huffman. She joked that she had no given middle name because her parents ran out of names for all of their daughters. Raised on a farm in east Texas, a daughter of early Texas pioneers, she passed up a college scholarship in order to serve the war effort in WWII. She met her future husband, Charles Greene, in 1943 while working in the payroll department at Consolidated Shipbuilding in Orange, TX. He was a young Coast Guard officer assigned to assess the construction of a fleet of LCI(L)s (large landing craft) destined for use in the Allied invasions of North Africa, Sicily and Italy, and ultimately the D-Day invasion. They fell in love and, following his return from combat in the Pacific theatre at the end of the war, were married on November 16, 1945, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Washington, D.C.

“Zeke”, as he was known, entered flight training in Texas following their wedding, and they embarked on the adventure of a lifetime as he served as a Coast Guard air-sea rescue pilot, stationed in Massachusetts, Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Washington state, and Louisiana, ultimately retiring to Connecticut, his home state. Along the way they had two sons, Charles Allan Jr. (“Chuck”), born in Massachusetts, and John Michael (“Mike”), born in Alaska. In 1961 they made the decision to settle down in Waterford, Conn., in order to give their sons a place they could call “home”, and it was a good one.

After sampling retirement life in Florida and Virginia Beach, they eventually moved in 1985 to Forest, VA, where son Chuck resided. Kathleen was a past member of The Kirk in Forest. She was an avid quilter and an outstanding seamstress, and served as an election volunteer for many years in both Connecticut and Virginia.

She was preceded in death by all of her siblings, her husband Zeke and all of his siblings. She is survived by sons, Chuck and his wife Jackie of Forest, VA, and Mike and his wife Tana of Cornelius, N.C.; grandson, Nathan Ryan Greene and his wife Nancy of Portland, ME; grand-daughter, Kelly Elizabeth Greene of Charlotte, N.C.; numerous nieces and nephews in Texas and elsewhere (as she would say, “There are more Richardson’s than rabbits in Texas!”).

The family would like to extend their sincere thanks to the staffs at the Summit Independent Living and Assisted Living facilities in Lynchburg, and to Centra Hospice and Home Instead for their care.

Visitation will be held at Tharp Funeral Home on Saturday, May 11, 2019 at 10:00 a.m., followed by a Memorial service at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow at Virginia Memorial Park in Bedford County.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Lynchburg Humane Society.

Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family.