The late Stephen Lowrey Richardson (1933-1999) and his lovely wife Mary Elizabeth Stewart Richardson have long been friends of their fellow man in Franklinton. Having married in Tallulah, Mary Elizabeth's hometown, in 1958 and moved to Franklinton in 1959, the couple became an integral part of the fabric of our community.
With a degree in business from Louisiana Tech, Stephen, known to many as Mr. Steve, began work at the Richardson Gin and Feed Mill, owned by his father John Richardson and his Uncle Walton Richardson. The mill was situated on Washington Street, where Don Juan's is located today, which at that time provided access to the railroad. And with a degree in education from Louisiana Tech, Mary Elizabeth began teaching school. After a short stint in education, she joined her husband in the family business, the Richardson Gin and Feed Mill, where they worked in tandem.
And then their precious children arrived - Katherine Adele "Kay" in 1965 and Stephen Clayton "Clay" in 1967. Kay is the namesake of both of her grandmothers, her paternal grandmother Katherine Varnado Richardson and her maternal grandmother Adele Stewart.
And in due time, Mr. Steve was a fixture at his service station, Steve's Shell - an icon on the southwest corner of Main and Pearl Streets, where Alford Shell is situated today.
While Mary Elizabeth was a stay-at-home mother while her children were young, she eventually became the secretary at Centenary Methodist Church, where she diligently served for thirty-eight years. It seems to me that the church secretary has a front row seat to birth and death, and everything in between. Ms. Mary Elizabeth humbly admitted, "I do know a few things." She has a mind like a filing cabinet. As her daughter Kay informed, she knew everyone's address by heart. The perfect church secretary.
Before her retirement in 2014, her tenure lasted almost four decades during which time Centenary had several ministers. Ms. Mary Elizabeth remembered Rev. Lael Jones and Rev. Spiller Milton being there the longest. She weathered change, also in the area of office technology. In the beginning, the church bulletins were manually folded, but now an efficient machine completes that task. And of course, computers were unheard of in 1976, when Mary Elizabeth began working for Brother Lael. But she seamlessly transitioned with technology.
Interestingly Ms. Mary Elizabeth, who was trained as an educator, remarked, "I was never going to be a secretary." But you know what they say, never say never. It was the perfect role for a smart, gracious Christian lady. Mary Elizabeth Richardson fit the bill beautifully. And how blessed Centenary and the town of Franklinton were for it. Daughter Kay described her beloved mother best, "She is the Church lady."
Mary Elizabeth's quiet but powerful faith was shared by her husband Stephen. In the evenings they sat together at home on 8th Avenue as he prepared for Sunday School. Prayers were exceptionally important in the Richardson home where Steve, a volunteer fireman for thirty years, was called out on a moment's notice. He kept his insulated coveralls turned down inside his boots by the side of the bed so that he was ready to go when the alarm sounded. An alarm at the courthouse sounded to call the firemen during the daytime, and at night, they had scanner/alarms in their homes to call them to the firehouse. In those days, it was situated just behind present-day Moore & Jenkins Insurance. Mr. Steve served with Earl Brown and Gerald Jones, among others.
Mr. Steve served as both Assistant Chief and Chief Fireman of the Franklinton Volunteer Fire Department which responded not only for fires but also rescues and accidents. Daughter Kay confided that an accident during our high school years had a profound effect on her father - the car accident that claimed my classmate Charlotte Martin's life on Hwy 10 (the Bogalusa Highway). She had been on her way home that evening to Lake Choctaw. I well recall the bus ride our Bowling Green class took to her funeral in Bogalusa. Kay explained that it was shortly thereafter that the Franklinton Fire Department got the Jaws of Life, heavy duty equipment used to extricate accident victims. Mr. Steve was instrumental in that life-saving acquisition. Notably, his son Clay followed in his father's footsteps as a volunteer fireman.
After his illustrious years at Steve's Shell, Mr. Steve became maintenance superintendent at Riverside Medical Center where he was respected for his strong work ethic and kindness. His heart was in it as he had been on the original board of the Washington Parish Hospital District 1 - Riverside Hospital when it was built. Mr. Steve also had served on the Franklinton Board of Aldermen in the early 1960s.
In later life he worked part-time at Ace Hardware, but his life wasn't all work and no play. Creative and talented, Mr. Steve could build anything, and he drew beautiful charcoal sketches of his grandparents' home and the Richardson Gin and Feed Mill. But I bet his favorite activity was donut date on Saturday mornings with Stephen Lee McCain, his firstborn grandson.
Mr. Steve departed too soon, on New Year's Eve 1999. His wife Mary Elizabeth Stewart Richardson, daughter Kay McCain (Kelvin) and son Clay Richardson (Stacey Bradford); grandsons Major Stephen Lee McCain (Captain Dr. Rebekah Schott), Connor Madison McCain (Natalie Pierce), and Stephen Peyton Richardson (Sydney Watson); granddaughters Allie Elizabeth McCain, Mary Kate Richardson Dykes (Benjamin), and Olivia Grace Richardson; and great-granddaughter Genevieve Dykes treasure his memory. And he is also dearly missed by a legion of Franklinton friends.
I would be remiss if I didn't add that Steve and Mary Elizabeth's grandson, Kay and Kelvin McCain's son - Major Stephen Lee McCain - is stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. In the National Guard, Lee was deployed to Afghanistan, where he was on active duty during Operation Enduring Freedom. And just like his grandfather Steve, Lee and his wife also served in Germany. The apple never falls far from the tree.
At age eighty-five, Ms. Mary Elizabeth is remarkable. She continues to prepare the weekly bulletins for Mt. Hermon United Methodist Church and, at the time of our conversation last fall, Fisher United Methodist Church. The latter was the very church that her husband Stephen's grandfather Stephen Pinkney Richardson donated the land for and helped build. It is no wonder that Mary Elizabeth fit in, in Franklinton.
