Constance “Connie” Hackley Richardson

Constance “Connie” Hackley Richardson was born August 7, 1932 in Page County, Virginia to Charles Kenneth Hackley and Lois Virginia (Aleshire) Hackley.

She passed away on December 7, 2019 while at the VNA Hospice House in Vero Beach after a battle with ALS (Lou Gehrigs disease.)

The daughter of a Methodist minister, she spent many a Sunday playing hymns on the piano at Stanley United Methodist Church. She enjoyed living in the Shenandoah Valley among the Blue Ridge Mountains. Her parents died young and Connie developed a close relationship with her Uncle Nate Spitler and Aunt Helen Spitler in nearby Luray, Virginia, who treated her like a daughter.

In 1951, at barely 19 years of age, Connie married WWII Vet, Charles Richardson, at the Army base, Camp Pickett, near Blackstone, Virginia. They lived in Montpelier, Vermont, Charles’ hometown, where they started their family. Connie became fast friends with her husband’s four sisters, having been an only child herself. They moved to the Boston area for Charles to finish college and it was there where Connie nurtured her love for baseball. The Boston Braves (now Atlanta Braves) and later, the Red Sox, were her lifelong favorite teams. The quote, “Life begins when the season starts”, could have easily been Connie’s motto.
Charles and Connie returned to Virginia in 1960, now with two daughters. Living first in the Washington, DC metro area, Connie began to get involved in politics and was a strong supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.

She often bragged about having attended several Presidential Inaugural parades from those of Lyndon Johnson to Barack Obama. They moved to Harrisonburg, Virginia and then to Richmond where they stayed for 25 years before joining their (now) three children in Florida.

In addition to baseball and politics, Connie had a love for bluegrass music. She traveled to festivals near and far to see her favorite bands. She even flew to Seattle twice, alone, for the Wintergrass Festival held there.

After retiring and moving to Vero Beach, Connie found another love while being in close proximity to cruise ship ports. She cruised to Hawaii, Central America, the Caribbean, Europe and many places in between. She often cruised alone but a few years ago, she was able to convince Charles to spend six weeks on a ship that traveled around Southern Europe and the Mediterranean.

Connie and Charles were members of the Community Church of Vero Beach. They chose this large church in hopes of being invisible in the back pews. However, they eventually became active and beloved members.

Connie was preceded in death by Charles, her husband of 67 years. She leaves behind their three children; Mary Richardson of Sarasota, Bobbi Johnson of Vero Beach and Andy Richardson of Kissimmee, and six grandchildren; Emma Johnson, Lydia Johnson, J. J. DeMichael, Evan DeMichael, Angelina Richardson and Alexandra Richardson.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the VNA Hospice House https://www.vnatc.com/hospice/ or the ALS Association http://www.alsa.org/donate/.

A service will be held at the Community Church of Vero Beach on Friday, January 3, 2020 at 10:00am.