Jo Anne Hutchinson Richards passed away peacefully at her home in Midland on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 at the age of 75.Jo Anne was born on May 11, 1940 to Victor Adolf Hutchinson and Mary Leona Lakin Hutchinson in Nelson, Nebraska. After growing up in Nebraska and Wyoming, the Hutchinson family moved to Sheridan, Oregon where Jo Anne graduated from Sheridan High School in a graduating class of 39 people. When she was not in school, Jo Anne, along with most other teenagers in Sheridan, worked picking berries and green beans at nearby farms to help her family.On September 7, 1957 Jo Anne married Reu Richards in Sacramento, California. Jo Anne and Reu met on a double blind date in Oregon and married a few months later. Reu Richards was in the United States Army at the time and soon the newlyweds were stationed in Babenhausen, West Germany for a two year deployment. After completing the military service, Jo Anne and Reu returned to Sacramento where Jo Anne worked as a bank teller at Bank of America. They moved to Midland, Texas in May, 1969 and Jo Anne became a real estate agent with Langston Realtors. She later obtained her real estate broker’s license and joined Carriage Company Realtors, which was an elite real estate firm in Midland in the 1970’s. More important than the consistent sales achievements Jo Anne recorded, were the many clients who became her lifelong friends. Following her real estate career, she joined Reu in operating Acrylic Image, Inc. in Midland which he had co-founded in 1971. Jo Anne and Reu were married 53 years until his death in 2010.Like many Midlanders, Jo Anne loved the people in Midland and counted her many friends as the reason she never considered moving away. She was active in her church, civic and charitable groups including the Aphasia Center of West Texas where she served in several capacities. Her passion for entertaining was clear to anyone who was a guest at one of her parties. She maintained close friendships with many of her high school friends and often traveled to the Pacific coast. Her warm smile and love of life were apparent and transforming to all who knew her.Jo Anne is preceded in death by her parents, Vic and Leona Hutchinson; her brother, Rex Hutchinson; and her husband, Reu Richards.She is survived by a son, Reu Cory Richards and wife, Amy Robertson Richards of Plano, Texas and their children, Audrey and husband, Roy Finch of Longview, Texas and Charlotte Richards of Plano, Texas; a daughter, Connie Richards Wagner and husband, Joseph John Wagner of Newport Beach, California and their children, Brian Wagner and wife, Annie of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Paul Wagner and wife, Christina of San Antonio, Texas and Claire Wagner of Fort Worth, Texas; a brother, Stephen Eli Hutchinson and wife, Diana of Sacramento, California; a sister-in-law, Jo Gentry Hutchinson of Midland; a sister-in-law, Judy Graves and husband, Nat Graves of Gilmer, Texas; and nephews, Victor Hutchinson, Richard Hutchinson, Sidney Hutchinson, Mark Hutchinson and Paul Bertsch.A memorial service will be held at 10:30 am, Saturday, August 29, 2015 at Nalley-Pickle & Welch Chapel.The family requests that memorials be directed to the Aphasia Center of West Texas.Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Midland. Online condolences can be made at www.npwelch.com,
