Obituary of Katie Mae Richardson
Katie Mae Richardson nee Goldsmith died on December 21, 2017 surrounded by her loving family at the home she resided in for fifty-nine years.
Katie Mae was born in Birmingham, Alabama on March 30, 1935 to the late Lela Stout. She accepted Christ at an early age at First Baptist Church in Hueytown, Alabama. Similar to peers in the movement, Katie Mae would leave her home looking for freedom, searching for opportunities, and fleeing immense racism and inequality. After her uncle was hung in Alabama for merely requesting an additional couple of pennies for picking cotton, her own father, fearing a similar fate, for he had also requested this mere raise, was forced to flee his hometown and leave everyone he knew and loved to save his life. He left when Katie Mae was a baby and she would unfortunately never see her biological father again.
She graduated from Westville High School in 1953. In 1954, Katie moved to Poughkeepsie, NY to live with her Aunt. Soon thereafter, Katie Mae would meet a dapper, older, WWII veteran named John Henry Richardson. She would ultimately fall in love and marry this man in 1955 in a tres chic and elegant wedding surrounded by family and friends that she would cherish and remember for the rest of her life. He would eventually build her dream home in the Town of Poughkeepsie. She would have a lifetime of memories, laughs, parties, BBQ's, cookouts, great food and holidays in this home.
She was known for showing her love to family and friends through her cooking. No recipe or store-bought concoction could compete with her long simmered, homemade BBQ sauce. Katie Mae would spend years cooking for the many students at Vassar College. She also spent years cooking for the Girl Scouts at Camp Sacagawea during the summers of 1970 to 1976.
She had a sharp tongue and was a true sportswoman. She excelled at every sport she played including softball, basketball and track. She also spent years on the travel bowling team in Dutchess County.
Katie Mae leaves behind her loving children; John Henry Richardson of Poughkeepsie, NY, Kathy Richardson Booker of Burtonsville, MD; her grandchildren Jennifer Richardson, Alise Clark, Brianna Booker, Jonathan Booker, Tatianna Richardson and Kayla Booker; and her great-grandchildren Sania Richardson and Sean Major Clark. Also surviving are her siblings; Nozouma Stout, Jr., Stanford Shepard, Charles Stout, Floyd Stout, Howard Stout, Frederick Stout, Earnestine "Tina" Hammonds, Gwendolyn Watkins and others.
Calling hours will be held on January 2, 2018 from 9:00 to 11:00am, with the funeral immediately following, at the Timothy P. Doyle Funeral Home, 371 Hooker Ave., Poughkeepsie, NY 12603. Burial will follow at the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery. To send online condolences, please visit our website at www.doylefuneralhome.com
