Doris Irene Richards

Doris Irene Richards, 93 years old, of Hastings, MN passed away peacefully on October 24, 2023. She was born April 14, 1930 in Meekers Grove, WI. She is preceded in death by her husband Duane, her parents Benjamin and Lillie (Riege) Pascoe, sisters Lillian Vey Pascoe and Lucille Zweifel.

Her earlier years were spent on the family farm. Following graduation from High School Doris married Duane Stuart Richards on September 23, 1950. They remained happily together for 64 years until his death on January 1st 2015.

Doris and Duane raised four wonderful children; Cheryl (Mark) Dawson, Rodney (Margarita) Richards, Audrey (Bert) Points and Timothy Richards.

In turn Doris’ children blessed her with five grandchildren; Benjamin (Erin) Dawson, Casey (Emily) Dawson, Nicholas Dawson, Robin Richards and Amber Richards. Additional grandkids by marriage were added bringing Mindy (Scott) Boudreau, Amy Points and Chelsie (Scott) Clem.

Finally, Doris added great grandchildren to her list of birthday cards to send every year. Benjamin and Erin gave her Vada Marie and Sidney Philip. Mindy and Scott added Brielle and Blake. Amy added Iris and Chelsie added Faith, Justice, Zane, Miles and Vivian. Doris was also blessed with many nieces and nephews.

Life with Duane was always an adventure. In their quest for advancement within the Federal Aviation Agency (F.A.A.) her family lived in Florida, Texas, Iowa (twice), Illinois, South Dakota and finally Onalaska, Wisconsin. She jokingly said she never bothered to unpack because they would be moving soon enough.

Upon retirement from the F.A.A. they relocated (again) and purchased a restaurant in Brownsville (another state) MN. Together they operated and grew the Riverview Inn into the “go to” place within the local community and for other nearby communities. Her special recipe bread pudding was always a favorite with the customers. Finally calling it quits they sold their business and moved (again) to Hastings, MN where she lived her remaining 16 years. She enjoyed just hanging out in her home watching 50-year-old game shows, Andy of Mayberry and The Waltons.

Keeping the family together and whole throughout her life didn’t afford a lot of time for herself. She was very proud that she earned her Certified Nursing Assistant certificate at age 48 and worked at the Onalaska, WI Care Center for 10 years until her retirement. She was also very pleased to have earned her driver’s license without taking the test. The local sheriff told her he’d seen her driving around town (underage) often enough that he was satisfied.

Doris was an incredible mother. She loved her family so much. Her kindness and unconditional love gave us all great strength and comfort. If everything else around us were to fall apart we knew that mom would be there to help us put it back together. We will all love her and miss her. She will always be in our hearts forever.

Her immediate family will have a private memorial service after which she will join Duane at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.