In Loving Memory of Fred Richards,
Ph.D.
January 12, 1939 – March 27, 2024
Celebration of the Life of Fred Richards
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Tabernacle Baptist Church
150 Tabernacle Drive, Carrollton, GA 30117
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Arrangements by Almon Funeral Home
Obituary
Fred Richards, 85, passed away on March 27, 2024. He was born Jan. 12, 1939 in Baltimore, MD, the son of Ezlin Black Richards and Alfred L. Richards, Sr.
As Fred put it on several occasions, he “lived many lives:” as a young Baptist preacher, seminary student, English Professor, Psychology Professor, Merchant Seaman, carpenter, psychotherapist, artist, author, the Easter Bunny, Freddie the Rabbit, a great friend of Santa Claus, a clown, an actor in Community Theatre, and an auctioneer.
A member of the Carrollton Kiwanis Club (with perfect attendance for 45 years), he was wellknown for his entertaining introductions of guests at club meetings, as well as his engaging and heart-warming service as the emcee of numerous talent shows, nursing home pageants, fun dog shows and fundraising activities.
He was a loyal supporter of the University of West Georgia, who could be heard singing and howling his signature wolf cheers at university
football games. He was also widely known by many for the years he drove a distinctive ‘72 Dodge pickup truck covered with bumper stickers and for the colorful and quirky hats he wore when undergoing treatment for cancer.
In addition to his parents, Fred was preceded in death by his sister, Joan Armpriester; step-sisters Marion Dean and Bertha Bergen; step-brother, Gene Richards; and sister-in-law, Frances Cohen. He is survived by his beloved wife of 54 years (Anne Richards), and extended family members (Alan Cohen and Eva Marie Carney, Elise Cohen, Brett Cohen and Sarah Cuellar, Marshall Cohen and Emily Diamond); a step-sister (Carol Brown); numerous nieces and nephews; and countless persons he cherished as friends, colleagues and clients.
A psychotherapist for 46 years, he was a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and National Board Certified Counselor (NBCC). He authored or co-authored nine books and numerous articles in professional counseling and educational publications as well as in the TimesGeorgian, Star News and West Georgia Woman magazine. His artwork has been selected for the covers of four books.
His talents and potential were recognized early through a nomination for a Woodrow Wilson fellowship by the English Department at Stetson University, where he earned his BA degree. He also earned a Master’s degree in English at Stetson, a second Master’s degree (M.Ed.) from the University of Florida in Psychological Foundations of Education, a Ph.D. in Psychology from the Union Institute and University in 1972, and an Ed.S. from the University of West Georgia in Guidance & Counseling in 1979.
Fred was the recipient of many awards for distinguished service during his lifetime. During his 49 years in Carrollton, he earned awards for this service from the Carrollton Kiwanis Club, the Sertoma Club, the Rotary Club, the University of West Georgia and the Licensed Professional Counselor Association of Georgia. He was the recipient of a Caring award from Senior Citizens of the Carroll County area, as well as awards from the Early Childhood Center, the Carrollton Housing Authority and the Responsible Sexuality Committee at the University of West Georgia. He was named a Board Member Emeritus of the Community Children’s Home Foundation (Alice’s House), received a Founders Award from the University of West Georgia (for his work as co-chair with his wife of the Centennial Celebration Committee) and the Dora Byron Citizenship Award from the Carrollton/Carroll County League of Women Voters (also shared with his wife). In 2021, he was honored by the Carroll County Mental Health Advocates at their annual masquerade ball for his 43 years of recurrent contributions to mental health, locally and statewide.
May 7, 2018, the office of the mayor of the City of Carrollton presented him with a proclamation of appreciation as a legendary character in the area, citing his irrepressible presence, oversized personality, quick wit and characteristic acts of kindness and compassion throughout the county and the West Georgia area. He was considered to have unofficial status as a Good Will ambassador in Carrollton. And he was well-known for helping people understand, cooperate and communicate more effectively with one another. Being a real, human and candid person was central to his way of living life. He saw himself as a flawed human being, but one committed to the work of becoming a better one. Christian and Buddhist teachings informed his understanding of what constitutes a good person and what enables persons to come to terms with the suffering that is an inevitable part of human lives. A bumper sticker he created sums up his spirit and the essence of his decision to leave the world a better place than the way he initially encountered it. It read: “Happiness is becoming the adult I wish I had known as a child.”
Wherever he went, Fred brought cheer, life, joy, hope and support in a world he knew could be difficult to deal with at times. He will be dearly missed by all who had the good fortune to cross paths with him.
A memorial celebration of his life will be held on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024 at 11 a.m. at Tabernacle Baptist Church, 150 Tabernacle Dr., Carrollton, Ga. 30117.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made in his memory to:
The Kiwanis Club of Carrollton
Alice’s House
The SOS Fund at the University of West Georgia
Agape Hospice Care
Order of Service
Gathering Music
Crow Builds Nest
Welcome and Opening Prayer
Becoming the Adult You Want to Be
A Love Letter to Life
Love Lessons
Don’t Fence Me In
Savoring the Moment
When Such a Soul from Us Embarks
Amazing Grace
Being Fully Alive
Family Memories
Moon River What Fred Meant to Kiwanis
Make of Yourself a Light
Saying Hello and Goodbye
Closing Poem and Benediction
My Way
Don Rice, Ph.D.
Clear Rivers Chorus
Kimberly Prince Korobov, Ph.D.
Phillip DePoy and Fred Richards, Ph.D.
Sydney Dailey
Angela Dailey
Roy Rogers and Sons of the Pioneers
Phillip DePoy and Fred Richards
Mark Kunkel, Ph.D.
Mark Kunkel
Phillip DePoy and Fred Richards
Elise Cohen, Psy.D.
The Three Tenors: Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras
Richard Dixon
Kimberly Prince Korobov
Phillip DePoy and Fred Richards
Kimberly Prince Korobov
Frank Sinatra
”My family moved insanely often. By the time I was a college junior, it was estimated that the family had changed addresses at least forty times. Consequently, I came to see myself as something of a nomad or sojourner, continually moving on, continually saying hello and goodbye.
”
”I ve been so many things in my life that I no longer see myself as any one thing in particular. My best guess is that I m a compost pile full of everything human. I ve also lived so many lives that I m like the cat in Alastair Reid s poem, Curiosity, who is nine-lived and contradictory, curious enough to change, prepared to pay the cat price, which is to die and die again and again ....'
”
Photo: George Stoddard
”She is the person who has most embodied and taught me the meaning of love, integrity, and forgiveness. Out of all the men I've encountered in my life, I believe I am the best one for her, but she deserves better. I'm grateful beyond words for the love we have shared together and grown through living a story that, if it were told in its entirety, might move even some of my friends to draw and quarter me and thousands to declare her a saint.
— Fred Richards
”
”Over the course of many years, Fred played the lottery faithfully and relentlessly hoped to eventually win the “big one.” My feeling was I had already won the big one in getting the chance to cross paths with him a second time and have the opportunity to marry him. I continue to believe now, as I did in all the years I had with Fred, that I was privileged to live with him and be married to him, and fortunate as well to witness the light and love he spread wherever he went. That he had this impact on others enhanced my own life as much as it did the lives of so many others and only caused me to love, respect, and admire him ever more deeply.
— Anne Richards
Drs. Fred and Anne Richards Celebrate Their Wedding Anniversary
Whether through coincidence or providential intervention, Anne and Fred met again in Gainesville, Florida after having initially met six years earlier in Massachusetts. They married July 5, 1969, when enrolled in the doctoral program in the Psychological Foundations of Education Department at the University of Florida. In preparation for their upcoming marriage, they collaborated in the development of "Marriage Vows to Grow On," an integration of Judaism and Christianity and the psychological contributions of David Bakan, C.G. Jung, Abraham Maslow, Sidney M. Jourard, Erich Fromm and others.
Anne and Fred understood marriage as a relationship in which, potentially, they could each become more completely themselves and more human. They understood love as a union freeing each of them to be and become a unique self while supporting, confirming and inviting the uniqueness of the other. They recognized that life brings constant change, that they would continue to change and consequently be different than the persons who took their marriage vows.
Knowing they could hinder or help one another's growth, they vowed to set aside fixed, ideal images of what they might want the other to be, remaining open to discovering, over and over, the persons they could become. They said "I do" to accepting the responsibility of fostering each other's growth and well-being while facing together life's joys and sorrows, happiness and adversities, successes and failures.
"A work-in-progress when I married Anne," Fred recalls. "I was surprised such a kind, intelligent, mature,
responsible and good person would love me enough to marry me and remain with me. Now we're celebrating our 50th anniversary. Amazing grace! Oh, how the years have rushed by. We've grown old, profoundly grateful for the gift of each new day and, now and then, visited by a sadness when facing what all lovers come to know, that this mortal life is too short and ends too soon."
Photo: Diana Head
Left: Protesting the KKK march through Carrollton in the 1980s.
Balloons read:
"God loves children of all races and creeds."
"Celebrate the whole human race."
"Support the human race."
Photo: Cherie Stoddard
”
” Happiness: Becoming the adult I wish I had known when I was a child.
— Fred Richards
Photo: Keith May
Dr. Fred Richards Honored at Carroll County Mental Health Advocates Annual Masquerade Ball
Dr. Fred Richards, Carrollton Licensed Professional Counselor and Life Coach was honored Oct. 2, 2021 by the Carroll County Mental Health Advocates (CCMHA) for his 43 years of contributions to mental health, locally and statewide.
CCMHA's annual Masquerade Ball provides funds to support activities and services for individuals and families living with mental illness and addiction, crisis response services for Carroll County citizens, and an array of other programs and services.
What I run from runs my life; What I face frees me to live.
This year's Masquerade Ball raised funding for an additional mobile Carroll County Crisis Response Team (CCCRT), a unit of licensed mental health workers and local law officers who work together to prevent mental health emergencies from requiring law enforcement intervention by providing the care and treatment needed to optimally serve those suffering from mental illness.
Richards is a past recipient of the George P. Podein Counselor of the Year Award from the Licensed Professional Counselor Association of Georgia which recognized him for service to the organization, passage of legislation establishing the licensure of professional counselors in Georgia (1984) and his writings on psychology and counseling.
Dr. Richards is a founding member of the Board of Directors of Alice's House, a safe haven for children in Carrollton, Ga., and the surrounding area. He and the late Dr. M.D. Morehead established the first private community counseling center in the West Georgia area. Since 1978, Dr. Richards has served as the Club Herald of the Carrollton Kiwanis Club and, in 2017, the Club's Distinguished Service Award was renamed the Fred Richards Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his numerous service contributions to that organization.
Dr. Richards is the author, co-author, or co-editor of numerous publications regarding psychology, education, and relationships, (including Humanistic Psychology: A Sourcebook, Educational Accountability,
''
Perceptual Psychology: A Humanistic Approach to the Study of Persons and Homonovus, The New Man)
Dr. Richards is married to Dr. Anne Richards, retired Professor Emerita in Psychology at the University of West Georgia.
During his acceptance speech, Dr. Richards spoke about his history in the Carrollton community, and gave credit to his wife of 52 years.
“I had a tough life – traumatic childhood," he said. "I was a drunk, crazy guy, but I had a good heart. But I didn’t feel safe in the world. And so, I want to publicly thank Anne. I went over to her apartment and everything I owned was in the trunk of a beat up old Chevy. My life was not working, and she took me in. She was one of the most rational human beings you’d meet. Everyone was confused – ‘What is she doing?’ When we decided to get married, even her family was terrified. It’s true. But it worked out. You took me in, Anne. You’ve never shamed me; never blamed me. I thank you so much, because I wouldn’t be alive today. There’s a lot of people in this room who’ve loved me well despite sometimes who I am, and because of who I am. I want everyone to know that you’re honoring me, but I’m telling you about Anne. If you knew the story, you’d send me out of town tarred and feathered and you’d make her a saint.”
Sculptor Kevin Shunn will be creating a bronze memorial statue of Fred with a bench that will be placed in the City of Carrollton. The Carrollton Fraternal Order of Police is collecting donations through its Barry Carroll Foundation for this project. If you wish to donate to Fred's legacy project, please make your check payable to the Barry Carroll Foundation, with "Fred Richards Memorial Bench" in the memo line. Checks can be dropped off at the City of Carrollton Police Department or mailed to: Barry Carroll Foundation c/o Chief Joel Richards, 115 W. Center St., Carrollton, Ga. 30117. Or, you may donate through PayPal or Venmo using the QR codes on the right. Please reference the "Fred Richards Memorial Bench" in the "for" section.
If you'd like to view the entire Phil and Freddy the Rabbit series, visit Fred's YouTube channel @fredrichards4337 or https://www.youtube.com/@fredrichards4337
West Georgia Woman Magazine, November 2021