Obituary of Jean Richards

Jean Richards, 90, of Jackson, Maine passed away in Belfast on August 22nd with her children by her side. She had battled emphysema for almost two full decades before succumbing to the debilitating disease. She was born to Dr. Thomas Kinsman & Matilda (Mahan) Richards on August 18th, 1927 in Boston, Massachusetts. She grew up in Lexington, MA the middle daughter of Dr. Richards, a widely known and respected surgeon who served as the team physician for both the Boston Red Sox and Harvard University Football team. Jean attended and graduated from Concord Academy, an Ivy League all-girls preparatory school, in 1945. She also made the Debutant Register that year. She attended both Cornell & Boston Universities where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics. Before settling down to raise her two children, she worked in both the medical service and insurance industries where she was an early pioneer working on the new UNIVAC computer system in the early 1950’s. After moving to Maine to raise two children in 1970, she laid aside the trappings of Boston high society and took up a much more Bohemian lifestyle. She gutted and remodeled an old Maine farmhouse she bought in Jackson, Maine by herself and even added some finish carpentry skills to her wide range of talents in the process. She made clothes for her children, worked a large vegetable garden as well as cutting and splitting 8 cords of firewood every year until her children were old enough to help her. During her life in Jackson, she also remained active in the Jackson and Brooks Congregational Churches until her failing health precluded it. She loved knitting and hand-knit many, many beautiful sweaters, hats, mittens and scarves for friends and family over the years. She enjoyed vegetable gardening and also enjoyed watching birds come to her many feeders. She adored and pampered the multiple cats that shared her life over the years. She was also an avid fan of mathematics puzzles and games, as well as crossword puzzles. For some reason, still a mystery to most of us, she especially relished the Free Press crossword puzzles and readily enlisted a sizeable posse each week to ensure she got it even amid the likes of an ice storm or particularly nasty nor’easter. Bright-eyed and witty to the end, she remained the independent, feisty, ‘force of nature’ woman that she always was. She was predeceased by her parents; a beloved aunt, Jemima (Mahan) Kenney of Belfast, Me; a sister, Mary (Richards) Endriss of Siesta Key, FL; and an ex-husband, Andrew Andreottola of Epsom, NH. She is survived by a daughter, Kelly Richards of Jackson, Me; a son, Hamilton and his wife Andrea, of Jackson; a grand-daughter, Alexandria Jean also from Jackson; and very special friends: Anita Jolliffe of Old Town, Andrea McGuire of Brooks and Marlene Thompson of Jackson. Her memorial service will be held 1 PM Sunday, August 27th, at the Brooks First Congregational Church with Rev. Russ Arnold officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family would request donations to the Brooks First Congregational Church in her memory. Brooks First Congregational Church, 22 Veterans Highway, Brooks, Maine 04921