Bruce A. Richardson

Bruce Alan Richardson was born on 4//16/1961 in Wichita, Ks. As a child, he was lovingly referred to by some family members as ‘Moose’. As an adult, he was referred to as ‘Brucie’ by lifelong friend, Chris Roeder; and often referred to himself as ‘Spanky.’

Memorial service is 1:00 pm Saturday, March 16th, 2024 at the First Baptist Church in Haysville.

Bruce was born at St. Joe Hospital to parents Vernon Clinton Richardson (deceased) and Carol Jean Richardson (living). He grew up with three brothers, Clinton Ray Richardson (living) Timothy Dale Richardson (deceased) Phillip Lee Richardson (living)

As a child, he enjoyed being involved in sports, roughhousing with his brothers and often spent time helping his dad in the garden and painting houses. He had a paper route that he was very proud of and often spoke of fond memories of his days delivering the newspaper to local townsfolk.

When Bruce was 8 or 9 years old he went to stay with his maternal grandma and grandpa Nine for what was going to be a weeklong stay. After just one night or so he became sick; so Bruce’s dad Vernon and Bruce’s younger brother Phil, left Haysville one evening after dark and drove 3-4 hours, arriving very late in the evening, to go pick him up. Come to find out the ‘sickness’ he had was HOMESICKNESS!

Phil says, in the early 70’s, there was a huge snow storm and we were able to build a very large snow igloo fort structure, as well as the various snowball fights we had with several of the neighborhood kids. Phil also recalls being younger than Bruce and the youngest of all the four boys, Bruce more than once would pick on his little brother Phil, by sitting on his head and passing gas, and locking Phil in the closet at their childhood home. Phil reports that although he probably should have received therapy for enduring such strife, Phil says he survived it all, and although very claustrophobic, his normal sense of smell did come back!

Bruce’s teen and young adult years were quite challenging, but he remained close to his family and friends; remaining lifelong friends with some of his childhood classmates. He also remained true to his Christian faith, reading the Word and attending church. Bruce valued education. He was always seeking, always reading, always learning. He read the newspaper and kept up with current events; he attended church, read his Bible and many other books. He especially loved reading self-help books, books on Spiritual warfare, and faith-based books. He had a fairly large collection of Bible Commentaries and other study helps that he collected over the years. As an adult, he attended Teen Challenge of the Midlands (studying discipleship), Midwest Bible Seminary, Butler County Community College (obtaining an Associate’s Degree in Substance Abuse Counseling), and Friends University (obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Business Management while in his 50’s).

Bruce met Cathie (his wife of 22 years) at West Haysville Baptist Church through friend and Pastor, David Alexander. They had three children: Kyle Alan Richardson (living), Seth Andrew Richardson (deceased) and Erica Danae Richardson (living). Bruce and Cathie separated in 2013, divorcing in 2014.

Bruce faced many challenges during his life, including PTSD, Bi-polar and other mental illnesses. He sometimes struggled to hold onto the positives in life, the things he had to look forward to. He experienced a great deal of loss, including loss of his father, brother, infant son, and grandparents. He loved Jesus very much, and was very secure in his heavenly eternity. He seemed to always be able to find his way back and turn things around with the help of the Lord, yet he still struggled with overcoming his sense of loss/grief.

Bruce was always very outgoing and very social, a trait he passed down to his son, Kyle. He would strike up a conversation with anyone and everyone, regardless of time or place. He knew a lot of people, and everyone seemed to also know him, especially in his home town of Haysville. He helped friends, neighbors, even strangers and was the type of person that would give you the shirt off his back if needed. Often he would hand out money to people he encountered out and about, especially children. One time he went to Toys R Us at Christmas, struck up a conversation with a boy and his mom, and ended up giving the boy $50 cash from his pocket. Since his passing, many people have reached out to state how he helped them or impacted their life in some way by offering help or encouraging words.

Being the social person that he was, he was always happiest when working in retail. He worked at several places including Alberton’s grocery store, U-Haul, Kwik Shop and Payless Cashways before getting into the aircraft industry. Bruce worked for Spirit Aerosystems for the last 23 year and before that for Boeing, and Cessna (briefly). Although he really disliked working in the aircraft industry, he stayed only for the income. His true happiness and passion was in an industry where he could help people and have contact with the public. For that reason, the happiest time in his work career was when he worked at Payless Cashways from July 1993 through Feb. 1997. He really thrived in this job, becoming a lead employee in the plumbing dept where he excelled in helping customers find the product they needed for their projects at hand.

Bruce loved sports and was a KC Chiefs fan. He attended several home games and even took Cathie’s dad to see the Chief’s once. He attended the NBC baseball tournament every summer at Lawrence Dumont Stadium where he and Kyle would catch foul/fly balls. He also loved March Madness. He enjoyed gardening, and spoke often of the gardening tips he learned from his dad. He loved sharing his homegrown tomatoes, and would refer to himself as Master Gardener because they were always a big hit. He enjoyed painting, another skill he got from his dad, and spent some time painting houses when he was in between jobs. He was an avid fisherman and spent a lot of time fishing and setting limb lines to catch flatheads. One of his regular fishing buddies was Mike Hicks. Mike and Bruce caught some good-sized flathead and would clean them, then fry them in beer batter. When Kyle was little, Kyle would call them “Golden Catfish Balls”! He loved going to the movies and going to concerts. He also loved cooking out. When grilling, he would cook enough food to make sure there was plenty to share with his mom, Cathie’s parents, and his next door neighbors, Alan and Lori. He called himself the "Grill Master”.

Bruce loved fourth of July, going to the family barbecue at Cathie’s parent’s house where they would celebrate her dad’s July 4 birthday. Every year he would spend way too much money on fireworks and put on a show for family, friends and neighbors. This was an annual tradition and will always be a treasured memory.

Bruce loved music. His favorite genre was 70’s rock and his favorite band was Lynyrd Skynyrd. Kyle says his dad always claimed that if the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash on Oct 20th, 1977 didn’t happen, then that band would have been one of the greatest bands ever.

He had a black lab named Lady that he trained and loved dearly. He would take her for rides in his old blue Ford pick up that was passed down to him from his dad.

Bruce loved taking Erica fishing when she was younger, and to concerts as she got older. He would always buy concert T-shirts for each of them, and this is a tradition that she hopes to continue in his memory. He also enjoyed taking her to movies and to eat at the Mexican restaurant. He was a good whistler, and passed this trait along to his daughter.

Bruce was a reflective, creative person; another trait he passed on to his daughter. He loved reading, he enjoyed writing (often writing stories and poems), and studying the bible. He had a collection of numerous Bibles in many different translations, as well as Bible commentaries.

Of his achievements, Bruce was most proud of three things: his salvation, being a dad and obtaining a college degree as a non-traditional student. Being compassionate towards others and the willingness to give your time, and resources to others in need is a trait he has passed down to both of his children.

Bruce grew up in church. His parents took all four boys to church every Sunday; they attended the same church for many years. As an adult, he attended various churches including West Haysville Baptist, South City Southern Baptist, Hope Community Church, Zao Christian Fellowship, Foursquare Church and others. He was even involved with starting a brand new church, Mosiac. Over the last year or so he attended Glorious Bible Church, with his brother Phil and Phil’s wife Lori. Bruce would say being religious isn’t the key, but having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and being a Christian is what really matters.

Bruce had several close friends, many lifelong friends from childhood, but perhaps one of his closest, most trusted friends was David Alexander. David was a very dear friend to Bruce as they navigated many valleys and peaks together over their many decades of friendship. Other close friends were Chris Roeder, Arden Unruh, Keith Miller, Russ Miller, Ron Karnes, Dennis Hess, Kent Boyer, Mike Stokke and Mike Hicks. There were many, many others as Bruce never knew a stranger!

He is preceded in death by his father, Vernon; son, Seth and brother, Timothy. Survivors include his children, Kyle (Rhonda) Richardson, Erica Richardson; mother, Carol Richardson; siblings, Clint (Ramona) Richardson, Phil (Lori) Richardson; Cathie Richardson, (mother of Kyle and Erica); and soon to be grandchild as well as many nieces and nephews.

From his younger brother, Phil:

“Bruce, I know your body and mind was worn out and I know you were exhausted with all you endured over your lifetime, but we don’t quit, no matter what, no matter how tough things can get, things will get better as long as you choose to work at it! God’s not done with you yet and HE needs you to lead others to know Jesus. If I knew then, what I know now, I would have asked you why are you driving all the way to Kyle’s workplace to see him when you don’t like driving your car long distances because you were always afraid it would breakdown. Why didn’t you tell me you drove to Erica’s workplace as well that same day? If I knew then, what I know now, I would have told you, lets go, get in the car and I am taking you to get the other tests you needed that you canceled so you can get the help you need to get better. I love you so much and the only thing that sustains me is knowing your broken body and mind that suffered terribly is at rest now, and you are in the presence of our Lord and Savior , and re-united with Dad, brother Tim, all the other family members and friends that were Christians that passed before you, and most of all second only to being with Jesus, is you are now able to see your beloved son Seth as he is alive and well with you as you all enjoy the streets of Gold in heaven all the while praising our Lord and Savior!”

Memorial contributions may be made to Breakthrough Club, 1010 N Main, Wichita, KS 67203 and PBS Kansas Channel 8, 8710 E 32nd St N, Wichita, KS 67226.