William Nelson Richards

William N. Richards, 91, died June 8, 2022, at North Side Medical Center in Miami, Florida where he was being treated for COVID-19. He was born November 8, 1930, in Woodruff, West Virginia, son of Nelson and Mildred Richards.

William(Bill) graduated from Cameron High School and the University of West Virginia, before entering the United States Army where he served for 5 years, receiving several distinguished service medals and an honorable discharge as a first lieutenant. During his time in the military, he met and married Bernice Steffani in 1956. They celebrated 64 years of marriage in September of 2020. After his service in the Army, Bill worked in the thoroughbred horse racing industry as an owner, trainer, farm manager, and jockey agent over a period of 40 years. Bill trained horses at various tracks in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Florida, and New Jersey. He was the farm manager at Harley Farm in Delray, Florida for several years, where they broke, rehabilitated, and trained horses. During his time as a jockey agent, he worked with several top jockeys including Eddie Maple, Walter Blum, Don MacBeth, Jean Cruguet, Mickey Solomone, Jeff Anderson and Constantino Hernandez. After retiring from the horse racing industry, Bill kept himself busy by working for Ed Morse Chevrolet driving cars.

In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his wife, Bernice Richards, two brothers, Grant and Thomas Richards, and one sister, Jacqueline Bonar. Surviving Bill are his daughter, Lynn Grace and her husband Bobby; sons, Mark Richards and his wife Karen; Myles Richards and his wife Traci; 8 grandchildren, Kris Andaur, Ryan Andaur, Cody Grace, Jennifer Sandore, Jessica Richards, Juliana Bargfeldt, Jesse McIntosh and Dylan McIntosh; as well as 14 great-grandchildren. Bill is also survived by two sisters and one brother.

A graveside ceremony will be held on Friday, July 1st 10am at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Davie, Florida. Those who wish to remember Bill in a special way may donate in his memory to Florida Thoroughbred Retirement and Adoptive Care https://fltrac.org/ or the Wounded Warrior Project https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.forestlawnsouth.com for the Richards family.