William Albert Melvin Richards

Bill was born in Dollar Bay Michigan July 17, 1931. His parents were Albert Southey Richards and Agnes Victoria Sandstrom. He graduated from Hancock High School in 1949 and Michigan College of Mining & Technology in 1953.

Gone before him were wives Lorraine Ruth (Uitto) Richards, and Christa (Gansen) Richards and sister Jeanne Richards.

He is survived by his children, Michael William Richards, Melody Jeanne Richards, William Robert Richards, Martin Dean Richards, 10 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.

Bill was a mechanical engineer at Boeing Aerospace in Seattle for 47 years, where he was a mainstay in the weights group. One of his favorite projects was the AWACS system, where he distinguished himself in a contest among the weights group men by being the one whose personal calculations were closest to the actual center of gravity of the large avionics dome on top of the 747. Another of his favorites was the Hubble Space Telescope, he enjoyed saying “my fingerprints are all over that thing.”

Bill enjoyed sailing, traveling and home repairs.

To honor Bill’s memory, there will be a celebration of his life beginning at noon on July 3, 2022, at the Corinthian Yacht Club at 7755 Shilshole Avenue NW Pier 5 Seattle, Washington.

We invite anyone who knew him to attend and remember his wonderful life. We ask attendees to wear bright colors, Bill wanted a party!