Thomas Martin Richards
February 28, 1947 - August 28, 2025
Obituary
LIVESTREAM SERVICE:
Tom's Livestream Service will begin at 2 p.m. CT on Friday, September 26, 2025. Scroll down to the Webcast section and click on “Watch Now.”
MADISON / MENOMONIE - Thomas Martin Richards, age 78, died unexpectedly on August 28, 2025. He was born on February 28, 1947, in Madison, Wis., to Hugh and Mildred Richards. At Madison West High School he played football and met Mary Ranney who became his wife of 56 years.
After working in a hospital in Milwaukee as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam war, Tom and Mary moved to a place in the country north of Menomonie, Wis. He finished his bachelor’s degree at UW-Eau Claire, majoring in botany and English. Tom was the stay-at-home dad for their two daughters.
He became an avid gardener and ran a small perennial nursery out of their home, specializing in peonies. It was his way of spreading beauty in the world.
Tom was a man of contradictions. He alternately argued vehemently and waxed sentimental. He was a nonbeliever, yet a dedicated member of First Congregational UCC in Menomonie. He was a nonviolent man, who held candles at peace vigils and cringed at the brutality of professional football, yet never missed a Packers game. An avid reader and a talented writer, Tom was known for his letters to the editor and Christmas letters that didn’t shy away from religion, politics, or any other taboo topic. He loved poetry and recited it aloud at the dinner table.
Tom loved babies and toddlers from the time he was a child himself. The second of six siblings, he held and played with the younger ones when they were little. It was Tom’s immense joy to become a grandfather, and he and Mary moved back to Madison to be near family including their grandson. There, Tom enjoyed taking his grandson to Olbrich Gardens, going to art museums, and making friends in the neighborhood.
Tom chose to be an organ donor, a last act of generosity.
He is survived by his wife, Mary; daughters, Kye (Vivienne) and Julia; grandson, Sam; brothers, David (Peg), John (Ann) and Robert (Gail); sisters, Margaret Carr (Tim) and Elizabeth Thurow; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.
A celebration of life will be held at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL AND CREMATION CARE, 5203 Monona Drive, Madison, from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. on Friday, September 26, 2025, with a sharing of memories beginning at 2 p.m. Burial of ashes will be take place at the First Congregational United Church of Christ memorial garden in Menomonie at a later time.
If you would like to honor Tom, we suggest planting flowers or donating to UW Arboretum or the ACLU.
Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.
Gunderson East
Funeral & Cremation Care
5203 Monona Drive
(608) 221-5420