Dr. Robert Richards

A native of Philadelphia, Dr. Robert N. Richards, Sr. was born on July 9, 1922 in Glenolden , Pennsylvania to Jane Shaw and Arthur Richards. He graduated from Glenolden High School, Pennsylvania Military College and Temple Medical School. During his Orthopedic Residency in Philadelphia, he married Mary Lou Ford and started a family. He practiced medicine in Greenville, Pennsylvania before moving to Chambersburg in 1953, where he started his own solo practice. He was the first and only Orthopedic Surgeon in all of Franklin, Fulton, Adams, and Cumberland Counties. He also volunteered his time to administer the polio vaccine, during the epidemic of that disease to area students.

A U.S. Army veteran of World War II, Dr. Richards Sr. was also the first surgeon to perform total hip replacements in a non-teaching hospital in the state of Pennsylvania. He also opened a free Shriners Crippled Children’s Clinic in his Chambersburg office. Over the years, the clinic benefited hundreds of underprivileged crippled children with orthopedic deformities. He coordinated and directed a Pennsylvania State Crippled Children’s Clinic in Chambersburg for over 25 years. He was honored as the ninth President of the Eastern Orthopedic Association in 1978. For many years, he volunteered his time as a diving coach at the Chambersburg YMCA and was a past recipient of the YMCA Service to Youth Award, and the Eldon Nuernberger Lifetime Service Award.

Over 40 years ago, Dr. Richards, Sr. began covering the Chambersburg Trojan football games. He dedicated many volunteer hours of his time to the youth in this community. Since 1976, Dr. Richards was the official team doctor for the Shippensburg University Football Team and Sports Medicine Program. In 2007, he was inducted into the Shippensburg University Athletic Hall of Fame. He and his wife established the “Dr. Bob and Mary Lou Richards Scholarship Fund” given each year to a football player.

During his retirement, he continued to give back to the Shriners Hospital through his love of music. He played the trombone for the Sahib Shrine Banjo Jazz Band in Sarasota, Florida, donating the proceeds to the Shriners’ Crippled Children’s Hospital.

Recently, Dr. Richards retired from volunteering weekly at the Chambersburg Hospital after many years of service. During his medical career, he was a compassionate physician, dedicated to the field of medicine, in the preventive, diagnostic, and surgical art of patient care, as well as a humanitarian and fine gentleman.

He lost his beloved wife, Mary Lou, in 2008 after 62 years of marriage. He is survived by his children and their spouses - Jane Ervin (Gene) of Emmaus, PA, Nancy High of Homewood, AL, Dr. Robert Richards, Jr, (Cindy) of Chambersburg, PA and Dr. David Richards (Anne Marie), of Lancaster, PA, 15 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother, Dr. Arthur Richards (wife Carolyn) of Slippery Rock, PA. He was a member of First United Methodist Church.

Visiting hours will be held on Friday, May 20, from 6:00-9:00 pm at the Thomas L. Geisel Funeral Home, 333 Falling Spring Road, Chambersburg. Funeral services will be held Saturday, May 21, at 11:00 am at the First Methodist Church, 225 South Second St, Chambersburg, with visitation beginning at 10:00 am. Rev. Dr. Dianne B. Salter and Rev. Catherine Boileau will officiate. Interment will follow in Lincoln Cemetery, where members of the Charles Nitterhouse VFW Post 1599 Honor Guard will conduct military graveside honors. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to “The Dr. Bob and Mary Lou Richards Football Scholarship Fund (checks payable: SU Foundation), c/o Shippensburg University Foundation, 1871 Old Main Drive, Shippensburg, PA 17257; or the Chambersburg YMCA, 570 E. McKinley St., Chambersburg, PA 17201.