Helen Bunting "Bunty" Richardson

1929 - 2012

Helen Bunting (Bunty) Richardson passed away Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012, in Las Cruces. She was the first of two children born to A.L. Peirson Jr. and June Janney Peirson on March 6, 1929, in Montclair, N.J.
Her father worked in the insurance business and her mother was a housewife.
In early childhood, the family moved to Concord, Mass., where she grew up. She loved animals and had numerous pets during her childhood. Besides the many cats that called her bed home, her favorite pet was JoJo the family poodle.
She spent many childhood hours playing dress up with other people's clothes. Her favorite aunt had a merchant trunk filled with costumes from her many travels that helped Bunty imagine and live a variety of adventures.
She attended Concord Academy High School and met one of her many lifelong friends, Ethel Wood. Like many of her New England friends who came to visit, Ethel and Bunty would spend many fun times together in her future Lincoln County home.
After graduating from high school in 1947, she attended Wells College, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951.
After college, she traveled between home, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Caracas, Venezuela, and Tokyo, Japan, to help family and work. While in Japan, she spent two years working at a hospital for the civilian branch of the Department of the Army.
It was while in New York City that she met her future husband. She had been introduced to Phillip Richardson through a mutual friend. They were married in Concord on Oct. 27, 1956. It was during this courtship period that she met another lifelong friend, Rene Burton, who would later become her neighbor in Lincoln County.
It was here she and Phil raised their two sons, along with a multitude of race and show horses, cows, sheep, dogs and cats. She loved gardening, swimming and being with people. Always the consummate host, she loved to entertain. Bunty had a way of making you feel welcome from the moment you met her.
She was famous for her New Year's Day open house party, where the stove always had a pot of beer-boiled pinto beans, posole for good luck and money. The bar was always open at her house and you could stop in anytime to have a drink or a cup of coffee, whichever suited your need at the moment.
Her legacy will live on through her two sons and their families, Rick, Janelda, Makayla, Lawrence and Rob Ege, and Robyn, Rhea and Ryan Richardson.
A celebration of life service will be held Saturday, Sept. 29, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. in the Carrizozo Country Club, 14 Country Club Drive, Carrizozo.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Helen B. Richardson's memory to the Canyon Cowbelles Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 578, Carrizozo, NM 88301.
Arrangements are entrusted to Baca's Funeral Chapels and Sunset Crematory, 300 E. Boutz Road, Las Cruces; (575) 527-2222, exclusive providers of "Veterans and Family Memorial Care." For online condolences log on to www.bacasfuneralchapelslascruces.com.