1936 – 2013

STRONG — Carla H. Richards, 77, of Strong, died in the comfort of her own home on Sunday, Aug. 4.

She was born on June 22, 1936, in Strong, the daughter of Elwood F. and Beulah (Worthley) Hoepner. She was a graduate of Strong High School, Class of 1954, and continued her education at Stone Business College in New Haven, Conn., and the Henry Simmons School of Floral Design in Wellesley, Mass. She also attended the New England Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in Boston and took courses at Simmons College.

On June 22, 1956, she married Boyd Ross Richards in Strong. They celebrated 41 years of marriage, until he died in November 1997.

For 37 years, she owned and operated Richards’ Florist in Farmington. Her reputation for quality work began with the shop first being located in Strong, and then in Livermore Falls for 10 years. She was co-founder and first secretary of the Maine Teleflora Unit, and was a 35-year member of the FTD Association. She was a guest designer at trade flower shows in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

An individual dedicated to her civic responsibilities, she was a former member of the Park Methodist Church in New Haven, Conn., and when her children were young, taught Sunday school at the Strong Methodist Church for five years and sang in the church choir for four years. As a Red Cross swimming instructor, she inaugurated the swimming lessons program at the Strong Public Beach and Porter Lake, and taught swimming two summers to numerous youngsters, the proceeds of which benefited church projects.

She was a member and secretary of the Pierpole Riding Club of Strong for many years and winner of many local championship trophies. She enjoyed hundreds of miles of riding on her Maine State Champion Stallion, KENO LITTLE BRITCHES. For a number of years, she shared her passion and taught riding lessons to many local children and adults. On several occasions, she was a guest lecturer on small business at Mt. Blue High School and taught seminars on business at Farmington State Teachers College.

She and her husband traveled extensively beginning in 1962, and enjoyed more than 40 luxury cruises and extensive visits to Spain and Madeira. In 1984, she rode horseback in Spain from Arcos de Frontera to Cap Trafalgar and back, more than 300 kilometers. The following year, an equestrian trip took her to Vienna, Austria, where she rode horseback to Budapest, Hungary (350 kilometers in 10 days). One of the highlights of her extensive travel was in 2001, when she especially enjoyed a 57-day cruise completely around South America, which “Rounded Cape Horn.”

Another passion of hers was training dogs. She had two very special black Labrador dogs, BABE and later CAFÉ SOLO, who were both trained as non-aggressive security dogs for her flower shop. BABE was famous locally for carrying the bank bag to the bank. She enjoyed gardening at her home, ballroom dancing, swimming, ice skating, walking, spending time with her family and sharing in their accomplishments.

She is survived by her children, Rand Ross Richards and his wife, Cindy, of Strong and Ida Norris and her husband, Mark, of Farmington; three grandchildren, Thomas Anderson and his wife, Britny, of Auburn, Eric Richards and his fiancée, Emily, of Portland and Amanda Richards of UMO and Strong. She is also survived by her yellow Lab, who rarely left her side, particularly during her illness, JINGLE.

Condolences and tributes may be shared with her family on her memorial wall at www.wilesrc.com.