Lloyd Kenneth Richardson

Lloyd Kenneth Richardson was born on August 4, 1929 in Sandwich, Illinois to Edward and Mable Richardson. Lloyd went home to be with Jesus and be reunited with the love of his life Delois Marie (Wallman) Richardson on September 12, 2025. Lloyd was also preceded in death by his parents, sister Ruth Anderson and brother-in-law Ron, in-laws Herman and Seabay (Faught) Wallman and sister-in-law and brother-in-law Rosemary (Wallman) Patterson and Earl Patterson, Jr. Lloyd is survived by his five children David (Ann), Lynn (Jeff) Thilgen, Thomas (Michele), Sue and Jerry; grandchildren Sarah (Ryan) Germain, Lisa (Eric Williams) Richardson, Greg (Michelle), Ryan Thilgen, Stephanie (Ian) Burgess, Laura (Pat) Thilgen Meier, Katie (Nolan) Larson, Stephen, Christina (Nick) Rounds and Nikki. Lloyd's tree currently includes 19 great-grandchildren with more on the way!

Lloyd was raised in Sandwich, graduating from Sandwich High School in 1948 after missing a significant portion of one year of school because of illness. After graduation, he worked the summer driving a tour boat on Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Lloyd attended both the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign and Northern Illinois University for one year. During his first semester at the University of Illinois, he lived at the Ice Arena at Armory Avenue and Fifth Street where his accommodations consisted of a footlocker and a cot due to the surge of students enrolling after World War II.

With the outbreak of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, he could see "the handwriting on the wall." With two years of college completed, instead of waiting for his draft notice, he enlisted in the Air Force in August of 1950 and ultimately became fully qualified as a gunner. He was assigned to Randolph AFB, Texas to join the B-29 crew he served with throughout training and combat in Korea.

Lloyd served as the Central Fire Control Commander on his 11 member B-29 crew, a position responsible for operating the bomber's revolutionary (for its time), computer-controlled gun system managing the aircraft's defensive armaments. Lloyd and his crew completed their 35 combat missions in May, 1952 and, shortly thereafter, returned to the USA. For his service, he was awarded the Air Medal for "meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight." With Lloyd's combat tour complete, he reported to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Forbes AFB, Topeka, Kansas for the remainder of his enlistment. At Forbes, he served as a B-29 gunnery instructor and "ran the gunnery school." He reached the rank of Staff Sergeant and received his Honorable Discharge on September 3, 1953. Recently, Lloyd was proud to have his service recognized as an honoree on the June 6 2018 Honor Flight to visit the National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington, DC.

After his discharge, Lloyd took some time off before starting a job at AllSteel Equipment in Aurora, IL and later Montgomery, IL. During 1953, Lloyd was introduced, by mutual friends, to his dear Delois Marie and they were married on July 17, 1954. He retired in 1989 from AllSteel after 36 years; it was his sole employer besides Uncle Sam. Some of his children fondly remember Lloyd's role as the warden of the Sheldon Avenue Work Release Program on Aurora's west side, but that probably doesn't count as employment as he was simply trying to prepare his children for life in his own special way.

Lloyd attacked each day by rising early to accomplish all he had planned for the day and did so with a positive and upbeat outlook each and every day. Lloyd was an avid sports fan and kept close tabs all of the major Chicago sports teams as well as the University of Illinois football and basketball teams. In fact, his children and their friends were amazed by his ability to monitor multiple electronic devices at one time to keep track of the scores of three or four (or more!) games simultaneously (clearly, a man ahead of his time in this regard!). Lloyd and Delois enjoyed their annual trip to Mountain View, MO to attend Delois' high school reunions. But mostly they enjoyed spending time with their family.

Lloyd and Marie resided in Sandwich, Aurora and Montgomery. After his dear wife's passing, Lloyd moved to an independent living apartment at Monarch Landing Senior Living Community in May 2013. Lloyd filled his days and nights at Monarch Landing walking, exercising, gardening and making friends. Lloyd was known to many as "the Whistler" because of his habit of whistling while walking to "get his steps in" and meet and greet those he encountered on his walks. If you ran into Lloyd during one of his walks, you might have heard him agree with you by saying "yep, yep" or "you betcha" and you probably heard him walk away saying "hang in there, keep smiling!" In August 2024, Lloyd moved over to Monarch's memory care apartments. Words cannot express the gratitude that Lloyd's family has for the Monarch Landing community - residents and staff -for the friendship, love and care he received while a member of the Monarch Landing community.

No services will be held. Should anyone wish to make a charitable contribution to honor their memories of Lloyd, the family suggests contributing to the Alzheimer's Association, American Kidney Foundation, American Cancer Society, Honor Flight Chicago or any cause about which you are passionate.