Bonita Smith "Bunny" Richardson

Bonita Smith Richardson SIMPSONVILLE - Bonita "Bunny" Richardson, 63, formerly of Columbia, passed away Wednesday at her home in the Upstate. After a long struggle with cancer, she succumbed on New Year's Eve. Born April 21, 1951, in Columbia, Bunny was raised in the Barnwell County town of Williston. She was a daughter of George H. and Betty H. Smith and the sister of Anne "Brownie" Smith Hart. Bunny was a writer from childhood. She wrote a private Civil War-era novel early in her life but did not seek to publish it. Her interest in writing took her to Williston-Elko High School newspaper and then to the University of South Carolina where she earned a degree in journalism in 1973. That year, she began what would become a 22-year career at The Columbia Record, an afternoon daily that closed in 1988, and The State newspaper. Bunny's career included becoming one of the first women news editors at The Record and later at The State, where she was a co-assistant managing editor. She schooled scores of reporters and editors, winning their trust and love for her firm, fair and yet gentle way of managing the often stressful business of gathering and reporting the news. Newsmakers respected her professionalism. She left the newspaper business in 1995 to become a spokeswoman for car-making giant BMW in Spartanburg County. Bunny's work at BMW involved representing the company with the media but also included being one of its ambassadors to business and civic communities in the Upstate. Bunny's mother, who retired from the Barnwell County Department of Social Services, passed away in January 2012 at age 84. Her father, a U.S. Army reservist who worked at the Savannah River Site for 37 years and retired as a safety engineer in 1989, died at age 85. Bonita was named for her paternal great-grandmother, Marth Bunita Browning, who also lent her name to Brownie Hart. Bunny is survived by her husband of 38 years, Randy Richardson; sister, Brownie and her husband, Bill Hart; the Harts' twin sons, Adam and Luke Hart, who were on the 2003 Division 2 national champion golf team from Francis Marion College; and grandniece, Sophie Anne, 3 months, who is the daughter of Luke and Jenna. Services will be private. Visitation is yet to be arranged through Heritage Funeral Home in Simpsonville. Memorials may be made to Cancer Centers of the Carolinas or to the USC School of Journalism.