William Newton Richardson was born near the New Hope Community about three and one-half miles from Montague, Texas, December 28, 1909, the son of Thomas Benjamin and Annie Thomas Gann Richardson. He moved with his parents to Nocona, Texas, when he was just a small boy. He attended school in the Sandy Mound Community transferring to Farmers Creek School to finish a year after the big boys in the Sandy Mound School ran the teacher off. From there he went to Nocona School, the to Prairie View and from there back to Nocona to finish his schooling.
Eula Mae Wilson was born June 21, 1916, the daughter of Bryant Beaugard and Margaret Adell Simmons Wilson in Nocona, Texas. She attended the Nocona School. She and William Newton Richardson were married February 25, 1932.
After their marriage the Richardsons moved to the Valley View Community and lived on one of the J.S. Dennis farms for ten years. Both of their children were born there. In the fall of 1942 they moved to the Prairie Valley School where he served as custodian and bus driver for two years, when he was called for service in the Army during World War Two. He moved his family back to Nocona at that time but was never called for active duty so he went to work for Kilcrease Well Service (now Jack Mercer Well Service) working first in the Hynds City Oil Field and then be became a machine operator and his work included oil fields in several counties. He worked at Well Servicing for thirteen years. Because of health problems he quit well servicing and went to work for Pacific Pumps where he worked until 1964 when Pacific Pumps sold out. From there he went to Nocona Boot Company and worked as custodian until 1972 when he retired. He went back to Nocona Boot Company in 1973 and worked as night watchman until 1976. In 1977 he began work as custodian at the Nocona Church of Christ where he still works.
Mrs. Richardson went to work at Justin Leather Goods in 1955 when their daughter finished high school in order to help her attend Abilene Christian University. She worked at Nocona Athletic until fall of 1957 and in 1959 she went to work for Aubrey and Hazel Adams at Nocona Jewelers and was employed there for fifteen years until June 1975 when she retired.
In 1971 Mr.Richardson started decorating his home for Christmas. This was part of his work at Nocona Boot Company each Christmas season and he became very interested in it. His home decorations turned into a Christmas Fantasy of Lights as he made something new to add to it each year. All displays were made from things people gave him that had been discarded. At one time he had six thousand lights in his display. He showed this Christmas Light Display from 1972 thru 1987. Sixteen years of showing a Christmas Fantasy of Lights which was a joy to both children and grown-ups.
W. N. and Eula Mae Richardson had two children, Dolores Yvonne born May 29, 1937, and James Dennis, born October 25, 1940. Both of their children finished school in Nocona and went on to Abilene Christian College, which is now Abilene Christian University, where Dolores Yvonne majored in music with a minor in elementary education. James Dennis Richardson attended Abilene Christian College on a four year Track Scholarship and tied the world record in the 100 yd. dash with a 9.03. He also ran on the 440 yd. relay team and the 220 yd. dash. He majored in Business Administration.
Both of the Richardson children married while attending Abilene Christian. Dolores Yvonne was married to Richard Edwin Felts of Larria, Texas, April 8, 1958, and they have one daughter, Tracy Michal who was born November 25, 1961. The Felts family live in Mesquite, Texas, where Richard E. is Band Director at one of the high schools and Dolores and Tracy are also employed in Mesquite, Texas. Tracy attended Lubbock Christian College.
James Dennis was married to Susan George of Tyler, Texas, on August 27, 1961, and they have three children, Shelly Gaye Berry of Dallas, Texas and Kelley Kaye and James Derek. James Dennis and his family live in Plano, Texas. Kelley Kaye is a third year student at Texas University in Austin and plans to become a lawyer. James Derek is a sophomore student at Williams High School in Plano.
The Richardsons are members of the Nocona Church of Christ where he served as a deacon from 1958 to April 1986, twenty-eight years. Eula Mae was a Bible School Teacher for over forty years, teaching pre-school and the Ladies Bible Class as needed.
1 Mrs. W. N. Richardson, "William Newton Richardson," in Melvin E. Fenoglio, ed. The Story of Montague County: its past and present (Dallas, TX: Curtis Media, 1989) 724-725.
