George Noie Richard

George was born and raised in San Antonio. He was a parishioner at St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church where he received all his sacraments including the sacrament of marriage. At a very young age, George was an accomplished tap dancer. He performed at the local U.S.O. Club entertaining the troops during World War II. Following his graduation from Central Catholic High School, he attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio where he served in the Army ROTC and earned a business degree in marketing. A few months after graduation, he met the love of his life on a blind date, Therese Cernosek. After only 6 weeks of dating, George proposed to her. They were married 6 months later in 1958 only 5 weeks before George was deployed to South Korea near the DMZ where he was stationed for 13 months as a newly ROTC commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army, Artillery.

Upon returning from South Korea, George and Therese started their family having three sons, Mark, Lance and Kent. After over three years in the Army, George was honorably discharged in 1961 with the rank of 1st lieutenant and began his civilian life.

In 1962, George began his over 28 year career with K-Mart Corporation in store management positions until he retired in 1991 while living in San Antonio. His career involved many promotions and relocations all across the United States before finally settling down for a while in Gadsden, Alabama in 1972 for 13 years after opening a new Kmart store. He was an active member of St. James Catholic Church where he served as a lector, extraordinary minister of communion and a member on the parish council. Also, George held leadership roles in the Exchange Club of Gadsden promoting family, community, and country.

In order to pay for his three sons' college education, he and Therese purchased the local Baskin Robbins ice cream store franchise where Therese (the Boss) and the sons worked for 4 years until it was sold. All three sons graduated from Auburn University between 1982 and 1985. George was an avid Auburn fan up until his death.

George had many passions including spending time with his wife, children and ten grandchildren, playing bridge and poker with his friends, dancing with Therese, restoring MG convertibles, and deer hunting at his “Lady T” ranch in Rock Springs, Texas, with his boys, grandchildren and friends who affectionately called him OF1 (Old Fart # 1). His best friend Bob Artz is OF2.

After the love of his life Therese became afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, they relocated from San Antonio to St. Petersburg in 2014 where he was able to care for her with the help of his son, Kent, and daughter-in-law, Lisa.

George was preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Therese (Cernosek) Richard, and parents Noie and Eva (Geissler) Richard. He is survived by his sons, Mark (Sharon), Lance (Debbie), and Kent (Lisa); and grandchildren, Pete (Blake Dorris), Claire (Nick) Richard-Wan, Anne Marie , Nick, Austin (Catherine), Noah, Samuel (Raegan), Meredith, Jonah, and Eli.

A funeral mass will be held August 23, 2025 at 11 am at Saint Raphael Catholic Church, St. Petersburg, Florida. Rosary will precede the mass. The committal service for the interment of his cremated remains will be held at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio on September 16, 2025 at 11am at shelter 1.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St Judes Children Hospital.