Tributes for tireless Lyal
16/Feb/2010
Comments: 2 readers have left a comment
ONE of Gosnells’ finest community leaders Lyal Richardson will be laid to rest today.
Mr Richardson passed away on Monday, February 8, after a three-year battle with cancer but his contribution to the City of Gosnells will not be forgotten.
Daughter Delva Russell said her father had a great zest for life, was fun-loving and very family oriented, raising his three children – Delva, Ralph and Lloyd – to be community-minded.
Mr Richardson was born and bred in Maddington, ran an accountancy business in the same suburb and watched his seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren grow up.
City of Gosnells Mayor Olwen Searle mourned the loss of a confidante and friend this week.
“I will miss him very much and so will the City of Gosnells,” Cr Searle said. “Lyal’s record of service to the community was quite extraordinary.”
Lyal Gordon Richardson was born in Maddington on February 11, 1928, attending East Cannington Primary School, later known as Beckenham Primary School.
His local community and sporting involvement began at an early age and his hard work in revitalising the Maddington Football Club led to him being made an honorary life member in 1956, while still in his twenties.
In 1953, he married Britiannia (Betty) Holyoak, thus beginning a tandem community involvement that would continue for many decades and which contributed to the progress of the Maddington Infant Health Centre, the Gosnells Home Help Service and the establishment of the Maddington Primary School canteen.
In 1960, Mr Richardson became a member of the then Gosnells Roads Board, with his status changing to councillor when the board became a shire in 1961.
He took over from Ray Harris as mayor in 1983, became an Honorary Freeman in 1985 and retired from the council in May 1989, then was awarded an Order of Australia Medal the same year. In 2004 the City of Gosnells named the large function room in The Agonis the Lyal Richardson Room.
Mr Richardson’s funeral will take place at the Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park, Joondalup, at 10am.
as posted here
