The success of many organizations depends on the vision, knowledge, savvy and just plain hard work of its key officers. As for the Georgia Republican Party, its chairman cites the yeoman work of party activist and conservative stalwart A. Rick Richardson over the past two decades as one of the reasons for the party’s success and growth. He died Friday of a massive stroke at the age of 57, and is eulogized by all the top elected Republican leaders in the Peach State.
Richardson was a former 4th Congressional District Republican Party chairman as well as a former chairman of the state Young Republicans. He was employed by the Fulton County Republican Party and then transitioned to work in the state GOP headquarters in Atlanta until his death. He participated in a range of activities and coalition-building to help grow his beloved party at the grassroots.
“As a trusted friend and confidant, Rick was the glue that held the state party together,” Chairman John Padgett says. “As employees and chairmen came and went, Rick was steadfast. Rick’s jovial spirit endured during good times and bad.”
A firm believer in the credo “God, family and country,” he was a founding member of the Christian Church of Buckhead in the city of Atlanta. Rick Richardson is survived by his mother, sister, a grandson and numerous cousins, and will be missed by a wide circle of friends and admirers across Georgia.
