Thomas Monroe Richards III
Thomas Monroe Richards III, of Anna, Illinois, passed into the full presence of his loving father God after a 16-year battle with young onset Alzheimer’s disease surrounded by the love of his family on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021.
Tom dedicated a good part of his 71 years of life serving others. He earned a Special Education Bachelor of Science degree from SIU in 1972 and proceeded to teach people with developmental disabilities at what is now the Clyde L. Choate Mental Health and Development Center in Anna, Ill. There Tom also served as Union President, Assistant Director, Director and Network Manager, overseeing the Illinois state run mental health agencies in 16 Southern Illinois counties.
In the early 1980s he also served as Director at the Alton Mental Health Center, Alton, IL.
With a growing passion for the underserved senior population Tom earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work from SIU. He worked at Delta Center in Cairo, Ill., to finish out his career of service.
Tom’s kindness, humility, and sweet, quirky sense of humor will be missed by many. He loved his horses and living in the country.
He thoroughly enjoyed SIU Basketball, trips abroad, all kinds of music, arts and culture. But mostly Tom loved people; he deeply loved his family, and took special joy in his children, grandchildren, two foreign exchange daughters, and his Goddaugher with the exciting, full life they provided.
He dearly loved the people he served and the people he worked with. He was a mentor, a missionary, an elder and a disciple of Christ.
These words from a slip of paper found in Tom’s wallet embodied how he lived, “And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” -MarianneWilliamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on a Principle of “A Course in Miracles”
Husband to Jenny Richards and the late Pamela Moreland Richards; mother of his two children, Seth Joseph Richards and daughter Courtney Beth Misener (Derek); Son to the late Reverend Thomas M. Richards Jr. and the late Mary Elizabeth Richards “Betty”; brother to Mike (Darlene), Linda Daugherty (Mick) and Jim (Joann); grandfather to Presli Elizabeth Garner and Grayson Thomas Garner. Extended father to two foreign exchange students: Cinthya Guerra Luna-Peru, Hanna Markos-Germany and Godpoppa to Tyeisha Mallory
Visitation will take place on Friday, Dec. 3, at Crain Funeral Home in Anna from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and again Saturday, Dec. 4, from 10 a.m. until the hour of the service at Crain Funeral Home in Anna. Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4, at Crain Funeral Home in Anna. Interment will take place at the Cobden Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Alzheimer’s Association Illinois Chapter of Marion, Rosiclare Rehab and Health Care Center or Arrowleaf, formerly Delta Center of Cairo, and will be accepted at the funeral home.
Crain Funeral Home in Anna-Jonesboro is in charge of arrangements.
To view the obituary or to leave an online condolence for the family, visit www.crainsonline.com.