Elmer Richards was born January 14, 1940 in Somerset, Colorado to parents Elmer (Senior) and Hilja Richards. He passed away peacefully at Lyon Specialty Care in Rock Rapids, Iowa on May 27, 2023.
Elmer grew up in Colorado and Utah and graduated from Carbon High School in Price, Utah, where he received All State honors in football and baseball.
Elmer attended the University of Utah on a football scholarship, played baseball and graduated with a degree in Education in 1963. He earned his Master’s Degree in Physical Education in 1968. Elmer taught Biology and coached football and baseball at East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah from 1963-1968. He worked for the Veteran’s Administration Hospital from 1968-1995, working in Kerrville, Texas, Amarillo, Texas, Nashville, Tennessee and Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
In 1962, Elmer married Barbara Blanchard. They had three children, Scott, Sheri and Jennifer. Elmer coached all three of his children’s teams in baseball, softball, basketball and soccer.
Elmer loved sports and enjoyed watching his kids and grandsons play. He attended many of his grandson’s baseball and hockey games. He enjoyed watching University of Utah, Notre Dame and Dallas Cowboys football. He loved to travel to attend various sporting events and went to the College World Series in Omaha for several years.
Elmer is survived by his two children; Scott Richards and his wife Mary, and Jennifer Flaherty; grandsons Samuel and Jeremy Richards, Ryan and Connor O’Dell and Jackson Flaherty; friend and former wife Barbara Richards, sister Sarah Lewis, and several nieces and nephews. Elmer was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Juanita Oliver, brothers-in-law Lynn Oliver and Joe Lewis, his infant brother Robert Dale Richards, and his daughter, Sheri O’Dell.
In keeping with Elmer’s wishes, there will be no public memorial service.