Mary Willa Richards

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Posted by: bottomsgardenchapel
Date: Jan 14 2022 12:04 PM

MARY WILLA MCEACHERN RICHARDS of Hartford, Alabama passed away January 8, 2022 at Flowers Hospital in Dothan Alabama. She was 103 years of age.

She was the daughter of Carlie and Annie Mae McEachern of Geneva, Alabama and the first girl born into the McEachern family in 75 years. She was born May 27, 1918. She is preceded in death by her husband, Merrill Richards and brothers, Bob, Joe, and James McEachern and a sister, Gretchen McEachern Boswell.

Mary Willa, or Aunt Woody, as she was known by her Richards’s nieces and nephews, worked with the REA during WWII, as secretary/bookkeeper for Geneva County High School, and retired from the Geneva County Board of Education.

She was well known for her generosity of home cooked food to friends and neighbors and for her beautiful long stemmed tea roses which she shared with many. She loved cooking and working in her yards, especially growing her beautiful tea roses.

She is survived by two daughters, Sarah Richards Dial of Enterprise and Jane Richards Meadows of Hartford; two grandsons, Benjamin Blakeney (Deana) of Phoenix, AZ and Dallas Blakeney (Jennifer) of Birmingham, AL; one great grandson, Landon Blakeney; three great granddaughters, Kenzie Blakeney, Bryn Blakeney, and Sonsa Sells; one sister-in-law, Jewell McEachern of Gadsden, Al; and many loving and special nieces and nephews.

No visitation services will be held and a private graveside service for family will take place on Friday.

The family would like to thank those at the Hartford Retirement Village for all of their love and care during the period she lived there and also the wonderful ladies, Margaret Gilbert, Sherry Cross, Patricia Christenson, and Mattie Paulk for their care and love during her final days. We would especially like to thank her niece, Anita Motley, and her husband, John, for their love and all the visits, phone calls, gifts, and particularly the Krispy Krème doughnuts which she loved and shared with everyone at the Village.

In lieu of flowers, those wishing to make contributions in her memory may send contributions to the Presbyterian Home for Children, P.O. Drawer 577, Talladega, Al 35161 or to St. Paul United Methodist Church, Cemetery fund, 3431 County Road 36, Hartford, Alabama 36344

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