Home of: Wilbur and Lois Richardson

MEEKER | Wilbur and Lois Richardson have seen the Meeker area change quite a bit over the years, but Lois said she can’t imagine ever living anywhere else.
“I like to travel and we have traveled quite a bit over the years, but Meeker is home and was the perfect place for us to raise our four children,” she said.
Wilbur has lived in Meeker for 82 years and Lois for 75 years. His father was a dairy farmer and her father was a coal miner and rancher.
Wilbur and Lois will celebrate their 57th wedding anniversary in June. They were married at Meeker’s United Methodist Church.
From their marriage came four children: Rod, now 55, who does construction work in Gillette, Wyo., where he also has a fiance; daughter Twila Morris (husband Gerald), who live part time in Arizona and part time in Meeker, where he has played Santa Claus for several years and she joined him this past year as Mrs. Claus to accompany the National Christmas Tree to Washington, D.C.; son Tiger, 42, (wife Shona) of Meeker, where he is a heavy-equipment operator for Rio Blanco County; and daughter LaDonna Eubanks (husband Torrance), who is a building inspector for the City of Boulder.
Wilbur was a heavy-equipment operator for Rio Blanco County, was undersheriff in Rio Blanco County for six years and he managed the old Meeker Feed Store for nine years.
Lois was with the Meeker School District for 24 years, starting out in the business department, then driving the school bus.
Lois picked “dancing, but mostly square dancing” as the Richardsons’ favorite lifetime hobby. They have danced in Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, Utah and California, she said, adding that two years ago she and Wilber were presented the Colorado Western Area Square Dance Hall of Fame Award. Wilbur also was presented the Golden Age Award from continued square dancing past the age of 80.
In addition to the dancing, Lois said she and Wilbur like to read and that she does craft work. She said they both enjoyed hunting and fishing their entire lives, but that those days are now over.
Of why she likes Meeker so much, Lois said, “I like the entire town, the area and it was a great place to raise kids. The people are friendly here, but, for the most part, I am just really happy we were here to raise our children. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
Lois also said she is pretty proud of the lineage started by the Richardsons.
“Wilbur and I have 40-plus grandchildren; I really am not certain exactly how many there are,” she said. “I also have two great-grandchildren on their way.”
Lois wanted to make sure she mentioned that Wilber was in the U.S. Army for two years and that they have done a lot of traveling since retiring — him in December 1997 and her in May 2003.
“But my lifetime dream came true when we were visiting some good friends and they took us to the Grand Old Opry,” she said. “I will never forget that. I was truly thrilled.”