Mary Jo Ann Richardson

Jo Ann Richardson, age 91, died May 25, 2021 in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Born October 14, 1929 in Dowagiac, Michigan, she was the daughter of Josef G. and Gertrude Cauffman and was the wife of the late E. Henry Richardson, who died on February 26, 1995. She is survived by her children, Gary L. Richardson and his wife Donna and two sons, Jon Michael and Jeremy; Mark D. Richardson and his wife Laura Beth and four children, Matthew, Benjamin, Samuel and Addie; and Lisa A. Richardson. She also has six great grandchildren with one more on the way.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her brother, Peter A. Cauffman, and is survived by her brother William J. Cauffman.

Jo Ann’s childhood was spent living on the campuses of Schools for the Blind in Lansing and Philadelphia, where her father was the headmaster. Attending West Chester State Teacher’s College in Pennsylvania, she majored in music.

Pioneering the first elementary orchestras for Harford County Public Schools in the 1950’s, she taught instrumental music in Aberdeen and Havre de Grace. Her first classroom was a stairwell, and she raised money from local Rotary and other organizations to buy instruments.

When she left teaching to have children, she began—reluctantly at first—to be involved in husband Henry’s floral shop on Union Avenue, with their apartment conveniently located just above. Over the years, she became the head designer and ran most of the day-to-day business of Richardson’s Florist in Havre de Grace.

Active in Mountain Christian Church, she ably conducted the choir for thirty-seven years. It began as a small group of music lovers who had little experience, and slowly grew into a wonderfully trained choir of about fifty voices. In addition to their weekly worship appearances, they performed many well-loved concerts and multi-media performances in the area, even on television.

Jo Ann served terms on the Harford County Board of Education, where she ably represented the interests of Havre de Grace as well as education in general. And she also served as chairman of the Board of Trustees for Harford Community College.

She had a deep love for Milligan, a Christian university in Tennessee, where all three of her children attended. She was honored to serve on their Board of Trustees for 20 years.

After Richardson’s Florist sold in the mid 80’s, she kept active in family business Home MediService for many years. Her daughter Lisa moved back to Maryland in 2012 to provide loving care for Jo Ann. She was blessed to be able to stay at home as her health declined, and she died peacefully, surrounded by loving family.

In recent years, as her health and memory began to fail, Jo Ann still maintained many of the traits for which she was known and loved…her delight in making people laugh, her joy in music, and most of all, her love of Jesus. She was vibrant, funny, beautiful, talented and dedicated…a loving mother, a joy-filled choir director, a beloved friend. Her three children and their families were the light of her life. She will be deeply missed.