Former Sitka Resident Frank B. Richards Dies

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Category: Obituaries

Created on Monday, 21 August 2023 12:22

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Frank Benham Richards

Frank Benham Richards, a longtime Sitka resident and businessman, passed on July 26, 2023, in Washington, Pennsylvania, surrounded by family. He was 74.Frank Benham Richards, a longtime Sitka resident and businessman, passed on July 26, 2023, in Washington, Pennsylvania, surrounded by family. He was 74.

Frank was born Nov. 11, 1948, in the Sitka Pioneers Home to Frank H.B. and Mary (Buckland) Richards. He attended Sitka High School, then went on to college at Lewis & Clark in Vancouver, Washington, finishing at Western Washington in Bellingham with a bachelor degree in industrial arts and a minor in accounting.

Returning to Sitka, he was the shop teacher at Sitka High, became the city building inspector, then opened his own businesses, Baranof Electric and the Potlatch Hotel. He also owned the former U.S. Forest Service building at Katlian Street and Siginaka Way.

Frank was involved in the community, serving on the Assembly and the Sitka Community Hospital board, and supporting local events.

He moved to Sequim, Washington, in 2013, and was there until this past May when he moved to Pennsylvania to be with one of his sons, Kevin.

He is remembered as a loving father and grandfather.

Frank’s second wife,  Pamela Robertson-Richards, died in 2019. He was divorced from his first wife, Rebecca Maisel-Myer.

Frank is survived by his two sons and their families, Kevin and Tawnya and children Gavin, Kayda, and Eli, of Washington, Pennsylvania, and Christopher and Patricia and children Maya and Blake, of Houston, Texas; his brother, Norman Richards of Sitka; and a half-sister, Monica Melanie Clark of Granite Bay, California.

A remembrance of Frank’s life will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10, at the Sitka Elks Lodge.

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