Roger Richardson
Obituary's Biography:
Roger Oliver Richardson a longtime (58 years) resident of Grayslake, IL passed away Friday, March 29, 2024, at the age of 93. He was born June 23, 1930, in Ingleside, IL to Zella and Leo (Mike) Richardson.
Roger was a graduate of Grant High School in Fox Lake, Illinois. After high school, he started working for Illinois Bell. Two years later he enlisted in the United States Airforce, where he served during the Korean War. After the Airforce, he returned to Illinois Bell in Waukegan, IL and met the love of his life, Patsy R. Cranor. Roger and Patsy married in 1954 and were inseparable! Upon an early retirement from the telephone company, he opened his own business “Rogers Add a Phone” and loved it!
Rog enjoyed reading the newspaper daily, gardening, bird watching, vacationing in the Northwoods, trips to Gulf Shores and miscellaneous projects around his and his children’s homes. His biggest joy was spending time with family. He was a proud member of the United Protestant Church in Grayslake.
Roger was a devoted husband, treasured friend, and a wonderful grandfather and dad. He was very grateful every day for all his blessings. He had an infectious laugh and lived his life glass half full, always happy and smiling. He was the life of the party and will be deeply missed. Roger is survived by his 3 daughters Sandy (John) Sparkman, Debbie (Carl) Wilt, and Lisa (Trent) Farm, his grandchildren, Christopher (Steph) Sparkman, Kaila (TJ) Rumpf, Carson Sparkman, McKenzie Wilt, Brooke Wilt, Max (Rinda) Mansell, his step grandchildren Jaclyn and Jillian Farm, nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his Wife Patsy, his parents, and sister Nancy (Richardson) Tinney.
A visitation is scheduled for Friday, April 5 from 4:00 – 8:00 pm at Strang Funeral Chapel & Crematorium, 410 E. Belvidere Road, Grayslake, IL. A funeral service is scheduled for Saturdary, April 6, 2024 at 10:00 am at the United Protestant Church, 54 S. Whitney St., Grayslake, IL. Interment will follow at Highland Memorial Park Cemetery in Libertyville, IL. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the United Protestant Church. For more information, please call 847-223-8122 or visit www.strangfuneral.org.
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Roger will be greatly missed. Our visits together were always enjoyable, in Grayslake and Myrtle Beach. Our prayers for Roger and the family.
Roger was my neighbor, living just 3 houses away from us. My wife, Debra, and I moved into Grayslake in March of 2020 when the world was shut down. We got to meet everyone eventually as they would come to the part to enjoy the sun, sand and lake. Roger was unique to us and intrigued by us. We told him we were in the witness protection program and he didn’t know what to think of us. We all got a chuckle out of that. He would come over to the lake and sit on the park bench with his little bag cooler with 2 beers in it and sit and watch, sometimes by himself, sometimes with another neighbor. When he was sitting alone you could see he was deep in thought. Any time I saw him there I would wander over and sit and chat with him for awhile and I enjoyed our conversations. He gave me an education of the area, of the park (some of it relating to his fathers duties in the park way back when). He was funny, had a sly funny way about him, and he enjoyed the area and his neighborhood. I’ll miss sitting with him on that bench. He was a valued neighbor and “historian”. Rest in peace Roger!
I am a long time neighbor of Roger. When the weather was nice I would get a call from him and he would say meet me down at the beach. So I would take a beer and head down. We would sit on the bench and exchange stories about our families while looking out over beautiful Grayslake. Roger liked doing electrical work for his children and going up north in Wisconsin. He enjoyed the supper clubs and playing the slot machines.
Al in all Roger was well liked and loved by most people he met. I for sure will miss him!
Some days I would get a call from Roger to meet him down at the beach. So I would grab a beer and head on down. We would sit on the bench, drink our beer, look out over beautiful Grayslake and talk about things that were going on in our families. Roger liked to do electrical work for his kids and going up north to help Lisa and Trent was a fun event. He liked going to the Wisconsin supper clubs and playing gambling games. Roger was well liked and respected by everyone. I will miss him very much!
We only know Rog from all the great Trent & Lisa stories and let me tell you we are going to miss him a lot. Full of life and fun. We are praying for the entire family – while we know he’s at peace – it’s still very hard on you all.
We love you all