Guy L. Richards, Jr.

Guy L. Richards Jr. passed away peacefully on June 11, 2019 in Lake Charles. He was born on November 28, 1929 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the only child of Elaine Dorothea Dever and Guy Leonard Richards Sr.

Guy attended Fourth Ward Elementary School and LaGrange Junior High School in Lake Charles. In 1944 at the age of 15, he spent a year at the Gulf Coast Military Academy in Biloxi, Mississippi. He attended high school in Houston, Texas at San Jacinto High School, where he graduated in 1948. Guy attended McNeese Junior College, studying agriculture. He was one of the first four-year letterman on the McNeese football team, and was awarded the Outstanding Lineman trophy in 1951. He was also part of the first Advanced R.O.T.C. class in 1952 as McNeese became a four-year college. Guy graduated in 1953 from McNeese State College with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. He continued a close friendship with his football teammates throughout his life.

After graduation, Guy served as a 1^st Lieutenant in the 7^th Division, 32^nd Regiment of the United States Army in the Korean Conflict from 1953-1955. Upon return from service, he began his career in the drilling industry working as a mud engineer with Mobar Drilling Fluids Company and retired as an account manager with Baker Hughes Oil Company.

Guy had a passion for sailing that spanned his entire lifetime. He was a charter and lifetime member of the Lake Charles Yacht Club, also serving as a past Commodore. He was also a beloved member and a dedicated groundskeeper for many years at the Lakewood Yacht Club in Seabrook, Texas. His children crewed for him in local and regional races across the South. He taught many of his grandchildren to sail and instilled in them life lessons through their times together. In his retirement years, he spent time at the Lake Charles and Lake Arthur yacht clubs and he restored two Fish Class wooden boats in his back yard.

Mr. Richards was a devoted member of The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Lake Charles. This devotion was demonstrated through his service on the vestry, ushering, greeting parishioners, and volunteering several days a week with the staff and friends in the parish office. His membership with the church was a cornerstone of his life, and he cherished his friendships and sharing in that time with his family. Mr. Richards is the fourth generation of Richards that are members of The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.

Guy is preceded in death by his parents and his wife of 61 years of marriage, Betty Jean Reeves Richards. He is survived by his four children, Linda Richards and her husband Richard Kendall of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Susan Richards Mahoney of Lake Charles; Karen Richards Krajicek of Houston, Texas; and Guy Reeves Richards and his wife Libby of Lake Charles; nine grandchildren, John Richards Frederick, MD, Claire Lucille Kendall, Maxwell Richards, and Margaret Elizabeth Mahoney, Gabriel Michael Krajicek, Kimberly Clare Krajicek Turk, Michael Richards Krajicek, John Edward and Abigail Jean Richards, and three great grandchildren, Lucille Anne and Mary Elizabeth Frederick and James Matthew Turk; his half-brother William Elias Richards, and his wife Donna, and his half-sister Patricia Ann Richards Daugherty, of Dickinson, Texas.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00am on Monday, June 17 at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd under the direction of Johnson Funeral Home. The Very Reverend Frances “Boo” Kay will officiate. Inurnment will directly follow in the Chapel of the Resurrection at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. Visitation will be held from 9am until the time of service in Hardtner Hall. A reception will follow in Hardtner Hall until 1:00pm.

Memorial donations may be made to The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd Tend My Lambs fund for the support of the village school and church mission in Haiti. 715 Kirkman Street, Lake Charles, Louisiana, 70601.