Arnold L. RichardsonA Memorial Service for Arnold L. Richardson will be held at the First Methodist Church of Spearman Texas on Friday, January 20, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. He passed away at the age of 94 peacefully in his sleep on January 13, 2017 in Midland, Texas.Arnold was born on December 1, 1922, in O’Neal, NE, and moved to Spearman in 1932. He graduated high school and worked at the Spearman drug store. He married Betty J. McKay on August 10, 1942. He and a high school buddy, P.D. Brockus joined the army air corps in 1942 and flew B-24 bombing missions from England over Germany, during WWII. Only Arnold would return home.After the war he flew for commercial Airlines, Delta, American and Continental. He was recommissioned into the USAF in 1952 during the Korean conflict. He rose to the rank of major, the highest possible for an enlisted man. He was deployed to Vietnam in 1967 where he flew C123’S. Having flown 857 combat hours and a total of 1182 combat sorties, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and 3 Oak Leaf Clusters. He retired in December of 1968 after 22 years of service in the USAF.Arnold’s first wife, Betty passes away in Lubbock, Texas in 1992. Arnold moved to Midland, Texas, where he later married Merrilyn Walker, a childhood friend from Spearman, Texas. Merrilyn is a 1946 graduate of Texas Tech, a former Airline stewardess, now a retired realtor in Midland, Texas.Arnold is survived by his sister, Helen Holt and husband, Nolan of Spearman, Texas; his wife, Merrilyn Richardson of Midland, Texas; his five children: Philip Richardson of Dallas, Texas, Steven Richardson and wife, Marcella of Lubbock, Texas, Louis Richardson and wife, Linda of Valencia, California, Thomas Richardson and wife, Donna of Fairbanks, Alaska, and Denise Staidle of Lubbock, Texas; eight grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and a niece, Paulette Hoover and husband, Patrick of Solvang, California.A closing quote form USAF Pilot Major Arnold L Richardson “Keep your Powder Dry”.,
