Getting to Know You: Kelley Richardson

By Jennifer Wimmer

Kelley Richardson

Kelley Richardson, Hancock County Librarian, was born and raised in Hawesville. She graduated from Hancock County High School in 1982, and studied Elementary Education at Western Kentucky University.
For 19 years now, she has been working at the Hancock County Libraries. She was the Children’s Librarian for her first 10 years, and is currently the Lewisport Branch Manager, her position for the last 9 years.
Kelley will become the new Hancock County Museum Chairman, starting in July of this year. “I feel that keeping the history alive in Hancock County is very important. The Museum is very important to our community, and I want to make sure that it keeps going for years and years to come,” she said.
Her friend and co-worker, Emily Bolin, HC Librarian, will be the new Vice Chairman for the Museum. “She’s like me,” Kelley said, “she likes history and genealogy. We are kind of doing this together. We’re excited about it.
I love working at the library. This job can, I think, even help me with being the Chairperson of the Museum Board, because you deal with history in both. I think it will be a good connection, and a good fit.”
She said that she has always been interested in genealogy. “I always liked listening to my dad and grandma tell stories about their families. Even at the library, I look up things for people that call in, wanting help with their genealogy.”
They have a new Local History Room at the Lewisport branch, she said, that has a microfilm reader, old school year books, and cemetery records.
Kelley has been in charge of the Hancock County Library Book Club for ten years. “We meet at Hawesville and Lewisport, both locations, we read interesting books, and have a good time discussing them,” she said. They are currently reading The Gown, by Jennifer Robson, about the women who made Queen Elizabeth’s wedding gown.
Before starting at the HC Libraries, Kelley helped with the start-up of Rise & Shine Preschool at her Church, Union Baptist, and taught there for 2 years. She has also taught Sunday School for many years.
She is in the process of joining the Daughters of the American Revolution. She won’t be an official member, she said, until September, when all of the paperwork is finished. Her Great-Great-Great Grandfather, William Bishop Lamar, fought in the American Revolutionary War. She is looking forward to being a member, and being involved in helping Veterans in the community.
Kelley’s parents are Terry & the late Barbara Lamar, and her siblings are Kevin Lamar, Heath Lamar, and Karin Haines.
She and Bobby Richardson were married at Hawesville Baptist Church in 1991. They live on his family farm in Gatewood, in Hancock County.
Bobby and his brothers raise cattle, and he is an Industrial Electrician at Domtar. His parents are Marjorie & the late R.L. Richardson. Marjorie will be 99-years-old in September.
Their 2 adult children are Danica and Corey Richardson. They both live and work in Owensboro.
Danica graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College, and works at Audubon Area Community Services, doing the scheduling for the Green River Intra-county Transit System (GRITS).
Corey graduated from WKU, and works for Brescia University, in the Information Technology (IT) Department.
Kelley and Bobby like to travel, and usually visit historical sites on their trips. “Any time we go on a trip, I have to do something historical,” she said. They just recently took a trip to Pioneer Village at Spring Mill, in Mitchell, Indiana.
Two of their favorite places they’ve visited are St. Augustine, Florida, and Savannah, Georgia. “St. Augustine was wonderful,” she said.
Kelley says it would be great to travel out of the country, once they retire, and would love to go to Ireland.
She enjoys working in her flower beds, and tending to her house plants. “I got that from my mom, and now my daughter is getting it from me,” she said, “I like growing Angel Wing Begonias. I keep them indoors in the winter, and put them out on the porch in the summer. My grandmother always had them and they are easy to grow.
My daughter and I make a yearly trip to Bright Star Nursery every spring to get our traditional flowers that we put out in our flower beds, but we are always on the lookout for something unique and different.”
In her spare time she loves to read, and her favorite genre is historical fiction. She also likes spending time with her family.
Kelley and Bobby like going to concerts at the Bluegrass Museum in Owensboro. “We enjoy listening to bluegrass music,” she said. Bobby just recently started playing the mandolin.
She has two fur friends, and they are both Shi Tzu Dogs. Mickey is 13-years-old, and Maddie is 15-years-old.
If she could go back in time, Kelley says she would have spent more time talking with, and learning from her elders. “I feel like our history dies with our ancestors, and we should talk to them, and get as much information as we can while they are still with us.
I think back now, and wish I had talked more to my grandparents about the things that they went through. But, you don’t realize that until you’re older.
My grandmother, my dad’s mom, she did all kinds of needlework, and making quilts – I wish I’d let her teach me how to do some of that…
I had a great-uncle that did our family genealogy, and he went pretty far back. We have a lot of that. I just think it’s very important to preserve your family history,” she said.