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NOVEMBER 7,1907 ~ JUIY1,2004

WEDNESDASrJlM?, 2004
11:00 A.M.

GILBERT-LAMBUTH MEMORIAL CHAPEL

PAINE COLLEGE

Augusta, Georgia



Reverend Doctor Nathaniel]. Irvin ~ Officiating

rChe Obituary

H. JOSfpbine Alien Richardson peacefully entered into rest on July 1,2004, at her residence. Her parents,
William Bertha and Adele Franklin Alien; a brother, Earl Alien; her husband, Dr. Canute Mena Richardson; and a daughter, Margaret Lois Richardson, preceded her in death. Born in Columbia County on November 7,1907, "Mama Jo", as she was to be affectionately known to her family and many close friends, was the younger of the two children born to Adele and William.

She attended Weed Academy and Haines Normal Institute (presently Lucy C. Laney High School) for her early primary and secondary education. As one of the members of the last undergraduate classes of Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929, she received a Bachelor of Science and English Degree. She also did far further studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsyl vania and Duke University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In the fall of 1933 "Mama Jo" was to begin a career in education that was to span over half a century. That career helped shape and develop young minds while contributing to a lifetime of unselfish giving of her time and her talents.

She taught at her beloved Haines from 1933 to 1943. In the fall of 1943, she left Haines to join her husband, Dr. Canute Richardson, who was the principal of Culleton County Training School in Walterboro, South Carolina. She served as a Math and Science Teacher in Walterboro from 1943 to 1947, returning to again teach at Haines. In the fall of 1948, she was offered the position of Registrar at Paine College and there she stayed until her retirement in 1976.

Finding that retirement was not quite what she wanted at that time, she took a position as Guidance Counselor / Record Keeper at Boggs Academy in Keysville, Georgia, which lasted from 1976 through 1981. She returned to Augusta once again because as she put it "the deer were becoming a nuisance on the road." Up until February of 2004, she was still working with young minds from her easy chair in her living room as she read stories and did homework with the children in the neighborhood.

In the Augusta Community, Mama Jo was an active member of numerous religious, social, civic and professional organizations. A

member of Union Baptist Church for over 80 years, she had faithfully served as Pianist and Church Clerk. She was also a member

of the Ellis Harris Missionary of Christ Presbyterian Church.

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She was a charter member of the Zeta Xi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., with 75 years of loyal service and

devotion. She also enjoyed membership in the Augusta Chapter of the Links, Inc., The Women's Civic Club, The Philomathic Club

and the Leisurette's Bridge Club. Included in her professional organizations were memberships in the Haines Alumini Association,

the Paine College Family, the National Association of Deans and Registrars, and the American Association of Registrars and

Admissions Officers.

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Surviving Mama Jo are: a daughter, Wilhelmina "Billie" Brodie; devoted granddaughters, Michelle Brodie (Randolph) Vereen, Marietta, Georgia and Lisa Brodie (Johnathan) Norwood, Augusta, Georgia; great-grandsons, Randolph (Trey) Vereen, III, Darien (D.J.) Vereen, Marietta, Georgia, Jonathan Clark and Nicholas Norwood, Augusta, Georgia; cousins, Alline Curry, Detroit, Michigan, Sheldonia (Jack) Van Ellison, Augusta, Georgia, Charles (Carolyn) Alien, Augusta, Georgia and Willye Bennings Horton, Kansas City, Missouri; life long friends, Marjorie Carter, Christine Timmons, Augusta, Georgia, Laura Paxton, Akron, Ohio; a goddaughter, Carol Dale Thompson (Wendell) Armant, New Orleans, Louisiana; and many other relatives and friends.