Gertrude Guerard Richards

Gertrude Guerard Spratt Richards, age 97, passed away on June 13, 2019. She was born in Atlanta on July 5, 1921 to Katherine Elliot Guerard Spratt (born in Bluffton, SC in 1883) and Nelson Tracy Spratt, Sr. (born in Alford, MA in 1873). She began her life in Oakland City, on Avon Avenue, where her father owned and operated the Spratt Chair Company. She grew up with her two brothers, Nelson Tracy Spratt, Jr. (born 1911) and Henry Guerard Spratt (born 1918).

The family later moved to Lakeview Avenue, where Trudy attended North Fulton High School, excelling in Biology and English Literature and singing in the acapella quartet. She took pride in the fact that she was never absent from, or late to, a single day of high school (and she liked to remind her children of that when they were)! Afterward, she attended business school in downtown Atlanta and then worked as a clerk for the AT&T Company for 11 years.

During this time, she met her friend and future beloved husband Phil, as he lived across the street from her cousin Cuthbert Giles on Drury Street. Trudy and Phil corresponded while Phil, a Captain in the Army, was stationed overseas during World War II. The couple married on April 14, 1951 at St. Philip’s Cathedral, and began their family thereafter.

The couple settled in NE Atlanta, first on Amanda Circle, and then, in 1963, they designed and built their home on Kodiak Drive in Sagamore Hills, where they both lived until the end of their lives.

In addition to providing a loving and supportive home for her family, Trudy and Phil loved to travel the world, including visits to Russia, China and Hong Kong, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, many parts of Europe, including Great Britain, Ireland, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Austria, Poland and Scandinavia, and numerous states and cities across the US, including Alaska and Hawaii, and Canada.

Trudy loved spending her time at her long-time family home on Lake Rabun, where she learned to swim at the age of two and went on to teach her children and grandchildren to swim at early ages as well. She always loved an evening cruise in the boat at sunset.

Trudy was preceded in death by her husband C. Philip Richards, Sr. and her daughter Catherine Richards Ethridge.

She is survived by her son Charles Richards (Valerie) and her daughters Alice Richards and Martha Richards. She loved her 4 grandchildren, Philip Richards (Ashley), Sarah Stallrich (Jon), William Richards, and Amy Ethridge, and her 5 great-grandchildren, Ryan Richards, Talmadge Richards, Immy Rose Richards, Matilda Stallrich and Dorothy Stallrich. She also loved her many nieces and nephews and their families.

Trudy’s family will receive guests for visitation on Tuesday, June 18 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm and Wednesday, June 19 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm, at A. S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home on N. Decatur Rd. in Decatur.

The memorial service will begin in the chapel at 2:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, you can send a donation to the ASPCA or the World Wildlife Fund, two of Trudy’s favorite charities.