More detail on this person: Charles Edward Richardson passed to eternal life with His Savior in the very early hours of April 20, 2020. He was born 1940 to Orb Burnard Richardson and Oleta Stella Blackshire Richardson, in Stratford, Oklahoma. He graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Fresno, California, in June 1958, followed by enlistment into the United States Army. Trained as a helicopter crew chief, Charles served a tour in Korea as a part of KMAG, finishing his early enlistment at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He returned to Fresno and worked for several years as a helicopter repair specialist at the California Army National Guard Transportation Aircraft Repair Shop near Clovis. During this time, he met Susan Bavin Richardson, the love of his life. They married in March 1965. Charles, known as "Chuck" by most friends and family, re-entered the U.S. Army in 1966 to attend helicopter flight school at Fort Wolters, Texas, and Fort Rucker, Alabama, as part of Warrant Officer Candidate Class 67-13. Graduating in August 1967 as a WO-1, he was assigned to the First Cavalry Division in Vietnam as part of 11th General Support. Major actions he was involved in included the movement of the 1st Cav to I-Corp, the A-Shau Valley, 1968 Tet at Hue, and time flying med-evac. Returning stateside in September 1968, Chuck was assigned to Fort Wolters, Texas as an instructor pilot. A year later, he accepted a direct commission as a First Lieutenant, Transportation Corp. His son Patrick was born at Fort Wolters, and Chuck relished taking him for toddler walks in the woods behind the quarters. Chuck was the last commanding officer of one of the warrant officer candidate training companies at Fort Wolters in 1972-73. When the Army Primary Helicopter Center and School at Fort Wolters closed and its function transferred to Fort Rucker, Chuck became the first commanding officer of the first primary WOC at Fort Rucker. His daughter Melanie was born at Fort Rucker, and she charmed her daddy from the start with her bouncing curls and blue eyes. Other assignments included Officer Basic and Career Courses at Fort Eustis, Virginia, degree completion at Embry-Riddle University in Daytona Beach, Florida, CH-47 transition and Maintenance Officer qualification, another stint in Korea in 1977-78, and an assignment at Fort Ord, California. He earned the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, the Air Medal with 28 oak leaf clusters and a "V" device, Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, Army Meritorious Unit Citation, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation. He retired with the rank of Major after an assignment with Combat Development and Experimentation Command at Fort Ord and Fort Hunter-Liggett, where he was, among other things, Reliability-Availability-Maintainability Officer for the acceptance tests of the Apache helicopter as well as the development tests of the HUMVEE. Following his military career, Chuck worked for Martin-Marietta (later Lockheed as the follow-on contractor) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as a Reliability Engineer during the build-out of the West Coast Shuttle Launch facility. After the Challenger explosion, he helped put the launch facility to mothballs. He later became a successful businessman in the Santa Maria Valley, near Vandenberg, where he developed a nursery soil supply business with his daughter Melanie. He liked to say he "made dirt." Nothing pleased him more than time spent with his children and grandchildren. He counseled them, teased them, watched them grow, attended recitals and sports games, chorales and graduations. He was proud of each one. Mostly he loved them. A life-long "car guy," he loved restoring classic cars from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. He mentored several young car guys, first among them his son, Patrick, whom he helped restore a 1964 Mustang. Chuck could fix almost anything mechanical. As part of a new wood-working hobby, he built Susan a beautiful curio cabinet for their military and family mementos. He stayed busy tinkering until the end of his life. Chuck also loved traveling, mostly because he loved meeting and talking to people. His "Chuck-isms" were enjoyed by family, friends, and strangers. When asked, "How are you today?" he would quip, "I'm wonderful, but I'll probably improve." He was always searching for the perfect tomato, growing bushels of them. A natural-born story teller, he relished relating his various adventures and misadventures from all periods of his life. He and Susan moved from the Santa Maria Valley to Santa Clarita in 2018 to be near family as they aged, and he quickly became the "mayor" of their new neighborhood. Greeting neighbors with "Chuck-isms," letting children pet his well-loved dog Milton, remembering names and still telling those stories, he is missed by the whole neighborhood. Chuck is survived by his devoted wife and best friend of 55 years, Susan, son Patrick Brian and wife Marsi Lee Richardson, daughter Melanie Richardson Swihart and husband Eric, Pat's children Jolie Kate, Dylan Zane, and Elijah Cole, Swihart children Grace, Addie, and Shepard, brother Glen (wife Carol Patterson), sister Louise Flores, many other family, and immeasurable friends. He is sorely missed.
This information was last updated 06/16/2020
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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