Resident of Lafayette
It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Sandy Richards, wife of Louis Richards, mother of Michael Richards of Livermore and Laurie Roser (Rob) of Chicago, IL and grandmother to Zoe and Chase Richards. Sandy was well known and liked in the community for her friendly story-telling and warm greeting to all who passed through the doors of Sandy's Unique Boutique in Lafayette. In recent years she was unable to come to the store due to her disability from Lupus. During that time, family and friends stepped in to keep the business going in the hopes that Sandy would recover and return to her store. It wasn't meant to be, however, and the business closed in June of 2012, 34 years after first opening.
Sandy was born March 18, 1943 in Spokane, WA to Arbie and Sarah Mickels. She graduated from Central Valley High School in 1961. That same year, she gave her hand to Louis Richards and so began a 52-year adventure in fun, family and business. Along the way, she was a fashion model and cheerleader in high school, received her credential as an EMT at County Hospital in Martinez, attended DVC in nursing, raised two children, started her own business in 1976, and teamed up with Louis to remodel and sell eight houses in Martinez, Lafayette and Orinda.
Sandy spent much of the past 15 years in and out of the hospital fighting the hold the disease had on her body. Lupus finally won the battle after a recent visit in John Muir Hospital and she passed away on Jan. 24, 2014 while in hospice care at the Bruns House in Alamo. The family thanks Bruns House for the tender, loving care they gave her in the final hours of her life. She will be well remembered and memorialized with a brick in the garden of Bruns House with her name on it. Donations in her memory can be addressed to The Bruns House, Alamo, CA or The National Lupus Foundation. Her body has been donated to UCSF in the hopes that, in her death, she may contribute to the research into the cause and effects of Lupus.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA