BROWN COUNTY
Claire E. “Shortie” (Percifield) Richards, 92, passed away Friday morning, March 29, 2019 at The Waters of Martinsville. She was a resident of Brown County.
Shortie was born Jan. 9, 1927, in Monroe County, to the late Thurman Anderson and Verna K. (Myers) Percifield. She was a 1944 graduate of Helmsburg High School and went on to work for Eli Lilly & Co. in Indianapolis from 1944 to 1948. Shortie later worked as a part-time cook at Waycross Camp and Conference Center in Brown County. She will be remembered for her hard work and willingness to help her family in home or on the farm; from sewing shirts, baking cookies to bailing hay or shoveling sawdust.
She married Robert P. Richards on May 1, 1948 in Martinsville; he lovingly survives, after 70 devoted years of marriage. Shortie is also survived by her children, Alan (Darlene) Richards, Phillip (Julie) Richards and William (Alice) Richards, all of Brown County; grandchildren, Sara (Wes) Richards of Boston, MA, Neil (Lisa) Richards, Jamie (Mandy) Richards and Joshua Richards, all of Brown County; great-grandchildren, Tristan, Porter and William Richards, and Blake Moeller; and several nieces and nephews.
Shortie was preceded in death by a brother, Wilbur Percifield; and half-brothers, Lyndle and Vernon Percifield.
She enjoyed horseback riding, fishing, tending to her flower gardens and she never missed taking scenic motorcycle trips with her husband. Shortie was a member of the Antique Farm Machinery Association in Morgan, Johnson and Brown counties.
Shortie’s family will carry out her wishes of being cremated. A celebration of life service will be conducted at a future date with inurnment in Bear Creek Cemetery, Brown County.
Cremation services have been entrusted to Meredith-Clark Funeral Home Cremation & Personalization Center in Morgantown.
Memorial contributions may be sent in honor of Shortie to the Alzheimer’s Association, 50 East 91st St., Suite 100, Indianapolis, IN 46278; and/or to Heart to Heart Hospice, 463 S. Landmark Ave., Bloomington, IN 47403.
Expressions of caring and kindness may be sent to the Richards family at meredith-clark.com. Information: 812-597-4670.
