Ellen 'Birdie' (Foley) Richards, 88

CHESTERTOWN, Md. - Ellen "Birdie" (Foley) Richards of Chestertown died Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007, in Heron Point, Chestertown. She was 88.

Mrs. Richards was raised in Pittsburgh and Mainline Philadelphia. She moved to Chestertown when she was 12.

She graduated from Chestertown High School and attended Washington College in the late 1930s.

Mrs. Richards married her husband in 1941. They settled in Augusta, Ga., where they raised their children. For a few years after her husband's death, she ran his business, Richards Buick in Augusta. She returned to Chestertown in 1973.

Mrs. Richards was a member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, where she was a member of the Altar Guild. She also worked in the Kent and Queen Anne's Hospital Gift Shop. While living in Augusta, she was involved in that community: the PTA, the March of Dimes, the Augusta Symphony and other charities.

She was preceded in death by her husband, John Rochester Richard, who was from Church Hill, in 1968; and her parents, Thomas John and Mable Thomas Foley.

She is survived by two daughters, Susanne Flater of Fairlawn, N.J., and Linda R. Richards of Lake Chapala, Mexico; a son, John R. Richards of Albany, Ga.; two grandchildren, Morris E. Flater III of Alexandria, Va., and Lara F. Wynne of South Glastonbury, Conn.; and two great-grandchildren, Alexis Talia and Kristin Talia.

Memorial services will be 11 a.m. Saturday in Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Chestertown. The Rev. Dan Gross will officiate.

Burial will be in Chester Cemetery.

Instead of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to organizations supporting macular degeneration research.

Arrangements by Marvin V. Williams Jr., Funeral Director, Chestertown.