Nancy Ellen Richards
January 11, 1949- July 16, 2023
Nancy Richards of Tewksbury, MA passed away peacefully at the Lahey Hospital in Burlington, MA on July 16 after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. Nancy was born to her parents Barbara (Riley) and George Richards in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in Reading, MA. She attended Mount Holyoke College where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Classics and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics and then Simmons College where she earned her Master’s Degree in Library Science. Nancy began working for the Memorial Hall Library in Andover, MA in 1973 as the Interlibrary Loan Librarian. During her 42 years at Memorial Hall, she also held the roles of Head of Circulation and Coordinator of Circulation & Technical Services, which was her title upon retirement in 2015. Nancy was instrumental in converting the card catalog to machine-reading format in the 1980s, developing book club kits for the community, and providing guidance and mentorship to many new librarians during her tenure at MHL.
Nancy’s family and friends will remember her generosity and thoughtfulness. She treated her family to many beach and lake vacations over the years, creating countless memories, including riding the waves and playing cribbage. Her nieces remember that Nancy shared her own love of reading with them as children, bringing them books from the library on every visit. When her great-nieces were born, Nancy enjoyed spoiling them, and they knew that when she came by for a visit, she never showed up empty handed. Whether it was a very generous birthday gift, a meal out at a restaurant, a snack she knew someone enjoyed, or something that caught her eye at the store (A catch phrase of Nancy’s was: “Oh I bought this the other day, do you want it?”), she loved to dote on her family.
Nancy’s generosity extended to many charitable causes for which she was a faithful donor. She also volunteered her time for many years at the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA. She was a talented crafter and seamstress, selling her creations at craft fairs and gifting her great-nieces many adorable dresses she sewed. She loved to travel and took many international trips, including to Belize, London, parts of Europe, and the Galapagos Islands. In recent years, Nancy had enjoyed exploring the family’s genealogy, catching up on her favorite show “Law and Order: SVU,” getting almost all of the answers right on Jeopardy, and completing jigsaw and crossword puzzles. She never failed to stop at a promising looking yard sale or a clearance event.
Nancy cultivated many strong friendships which lasted her whole life, and had many co-workers that became good friends as well. She was so thankful to see so many of these friends recently and share time with them. She is remembered and greatly missed by her sister, Mary Lee (Richards) Cullinan and brother-in-law Gary Cullinan, her niece Darcy (Cullinan) Black and husband Lindsey Black, her niece Kelsie (Cullinan) Potts and husband Alex Potts, and her great-nieces Evie and Cecilia Potts and Adah Black.
The family requests that remembrances be made in the form of contributions to Zoo New England by visiting www.zoonewengland.org or mailing a check to Development Office, Zoo New England, 1 Franklin Park Road, Boston MA 02121
Relatives and friends are invited to attend calling hours from 10am-12pm on Saturday, August 5 at the Farmer & Dee Funeral Home at 16 Lee Street, Tewksbury, MA. Immediately following calling hours at 12pm, a memorial service will be held at the funeral home.