Geraldine (Geri) Wayne Richardson, 80, passed away on October 15, 2025, in Springfield, Missouri. Born on December 9, 1944, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she lived a life marked by resilience, creativity, and unwavering devotion.
Geri’s early years were shaped by her father’s military service and her family’s active involvement in the RLDS Church. She was baptized in 1953 and attended Sunday and Wednesday services at Arcade Church in Sacramento, California. She fondly remembered participating in youth activities and working at the church’s food booth at the California State Fair.
As a child, Geri lived in many places due to her father’s military and professional pursuits including Oklahoma, Mississippi, Illinois, Virginia, and Alaska—where the family lived in a one-room log cabin and her bedroom was a lean-to porch. Eventually, the family settled in Sacramento, where Geri graduated high school.
On March 11, 1962, Geri married Leon Ray (Ray) Richardson, Sr. at Arcade Church. After a brief time in Los Angeles, they returned to Sacramento, where they spent the early years with their four children.
In 1971, the family moved to New Bloomfield, Missouri, to run a gas station. When the business closed during the gas shortage, they relocated to Independence, Missouri, where Geri worked as an inventory control clerk at JCPenney. She later left that role to take over her parents’ ceramics business, operating it from her home in Hickman Mills.
In the late 1970s, the family settled in Clinton, Missouri, where Geri continued her ceramics work while the children helped with her parents’ beekeeping business. Later, she and Ray opened a tool and party rental shop, which they operated until their children left home.
As empty-nesters, Geri and Ray returned to California. Geri enrolled in community college, earned her associate degree, and began working as a CAD drafter. They later moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, before returning to Greenwood, California, to care for Ray’s mother.
In 2014, they relocated to Houston, Missouri, to care for Ray’s father, P.W. Richardson. Geri enjoyed the slow pace of life there, spending her final years immersed in reading and artistic pursuits. A naturally gifted, self-taught artist, Geri mastered nearly every medium she tried—painting, pen and ink drawing, quilting, knitting, reverse glass painting, and jewelry design. Geri was also a talented seamstress, able to create clothing without using patterns—including her daughter’s senior prom dress. In her later years, she channeled her creativity into a successful applique quilting business, Grannie G’s, where she sold original designs and earned awards at quilt shows. Many of her finest quilts were gifted to her children and grandchildren, serving as lasting reminders of her love and artistic legacy.
Geri was preceded in death by her parents, Hubert (“Smitty”) and Altha (“Skip”) Smith. She is survived by her husband of 63 years, Leon (Ray) Richardson, Sr.; her children, Monte Richardson (Glenda), Leon Richardson, Jr. (Susan), Paul Richardson, and Lisa Carpenter (Jay); and grandchildren, Tiffany Richardson, Curtis Richardson, Myra Morris (Ryan), Zachary Richardson (Ila), Faith Richardson, Mckenzie Richardson, and Annabelle Carpenter. Before her passing, Geri was joyfully awaiting the birth of her first great-grandchild, Shiloh Richardson.
In keeping with Geri’s wishes, her body was cremated, and no public services will be held.
