Loren J. Richardson

July 26th, 2023, Loren Joseph Richardson, 82, of Petersburg, Indiana, passed away at his
home. Preceded in death by his wife of 59 years is Virginia Rose, brother Larry Wayne, mother
Etta Lenora, and father Loren Lyndol. Loren is now reunited with his beloved wife in heaven. He
has been heartbroken ever since he lost her in March 2020.
Surviving are his three children, Kathy Ann Richardson, Loren Daniel (Beth) Richardson, and
Donald Allen (Lori) Richardson. Five Grandchildren, Dalton, ShaeBreann, Hallie, Tanner, and
Chandler, and three Great Grandchildren, Ellie, Gwendolyn, and Matilda.
Loren was born October 2, 1940, in Marion, Indiana, to Loren Lyndol Richardson and Etta
Lenora Richardson.
After graduating in 1958 from Manual High School in Indianapolis, he joined the United States
Navy serving from 1958 to 1960. After the Navy, Loren held a few odd jobs before he started
working at Indianapolis Power and Light (IP&L) in 1963 at the downtown Steam and Generating
Station in Indianapolis. While at IP&L, he worked as a Water Softener Operator, Turbine
Operator, and Boiler Fireman. In 1966, he transferred to IP&L’s new Petersburg Generating
Station.
At IP&L in Petersburg, Loren was part of the original start-up crew for the 270-megawatt steam
turbine generator as an Auxiliary Operator. He advanced to Control Room Operator in 1967 and
worked on the Control Boards on the original start-up of the 469-megawatt unit in 1969.
Eventually, he advanced to Shift Supervisor in 1974 and to Supervisor of Operations in 1978.
He ended his career in 1996 as Operations Superintendent.
Loren retired at age 55. He and Virginia enjoyed their retirement doing many things, such as
taking one of their 2 classic vehicles to car shows and traveling to new places. Their two favorite
places to travel to were the Great Smoky Mountains and Florida, where they usually stayed on
the beach. They were both heavily invested in spending time with their grandchildren. They
would try to attend every school program, play, concert, or sports game they could. Loren
always brought a camera or camcorder to those events. He also loved to play with the
grandkids and would often take them to playgrounds, the movies, or their favorite restaurants.
Loren was a very humble man. One of his final requests was not to have his picture in the paper
with his obituary and to not have a funeral. He did not like to have people fuss over him and
never wanted to be a burden, as you can tell by these two requests.
He had a hard life while still living at home and had some heartache in early adulthood. His
mother and father divorced when he was 9. His father passed away when Loren was in his 20’s.
Despite starting out his life without a father figure, he grew into a caring, kind, and loving
person. He was just an all-around great man to everyone he met. We have met many people
that Loren has worked with, and every one of them tells us that he was a great boss to work
with. As a family, we wanted to share some of the many great memories we have of Loren.

Some of these will show how much he loved us. Some will show some of the funny quirks he
had.
Kathy (Daughter): I always liked to go with my Dad and mom to car shows. I enjoyed the ride in
his old car and spending time with Mom and Dad as we sat next to his car in the lawn chairs.
Dad and Mom would take me on vacations with them. My favorites were the trip to Mississippi
and New Orleans. He would also take me to Denny's or Gasthof to eat and sometimes to flea
markets and thrift stores to shop.
Danny (Son): He ALWAYS bailed me out of jams when a vehicle broke down, would drop
everything to come to get me, and never complained. He would lend a backup vehicle to get us
by until I got mine fixed. Loved that! First priority when he pulled into our driveway was to give
the dog a couple of Scooby Snacks. And we now know he lent Tanner money to buy our last
dog, so actually, she was partially his.
Donald (Son): When he sent us birthday cards (all the way up until he passed), he would write
in it a note to tell you how proud he was of you, or it would have an old/fond memory written
inside. Also, the card would include a photo of you that he would have taken out of their own
photo album. He did this with all of his family members. He enjoyed showing me how to work
on cars and motorcycles when I was living at home. And after I moved out and had my own
family, he would come to help work on my house, car, truck, yard, or pretty much anything I
needed help with. And he did that without complaint or hesitation.
Beth (Daughter-in-Law): When I first married Danny, and I would cook something, he’d always
say, “Now it’s missing something,” and the look on his face, trying to think what it needed. And,
of course, he came up with “salt!” But later in life, he’d tell me, “Bethers, this is good,” no matter
what it tasted like.
Lori (Daughter-in-Law): I have so many great memories. I never considered him my
Father-in-law. He was so much more than that. He was my Indiana Dad since my Dad was in
Pennsylvania. He welcomed me into the family without skipping a beat. He was always there to
love and support me in all the crazy things I did. It meant the world to me. Whenever I made a
meal, he asked, "Is that homemade?" Or "Did you make that?" That was the best compliment
ever.
Dalton (Grandson): When I was younger, I would always get on their golf cart and grab one of
their radios they had in their garage and jam away in the golf cart. He would pay me $20 for
cutting their grass. I remember when Grandpa Butch had that motorcycle, and I gave it too
much gas, and I freaked out and was heading toward his tractor implements. Next thing you
know... I had dirt all in my teeth and got pretty banged up, lol.
Hallie (Granddaughter): Going to the store with Grandpa and him buying us pickled bologna so
we could eat it together every time I came over to his house. (Might be lame, but literally, he

supplied me with it, and we would always eat it together). Making him always do the Lite Brite
and watch every single Disney movie there ever was.
Tanner (Grandson): Anytime we were near a Dairy Queen, Grandpa would stop and get us both
a blizzard. He would shout he had a brain freeze about every 5 minutes. Watching scary movies
with him, and he would always talk about the movie afterward and say it was good, but he is
definitely going to have nightmares.
Chandler (Grandson): My favorite memory with Papaw is him driving me around in the golf cart
and playing Candy Land with him. He gave thoughtful gifts. Last Christmas, he gave me a
photo album with some photos of the family already in it. It was the best Christmas gift I ever got
from him. It meant a lot to me.
Loren left this quote for his family to see.
“The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will
learn to live with it. You will heal, and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered.
You will be whole again, but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same. Nor would
you want to!” - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
The family is planning a celebration of life for Loren and Virginia sometime this Fall.

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