Dr. Verlyn Duane Richards passed away on August 30th, 2022 at the age of 89. He was preceded in death by his lifetime partner of sixty years, Dr. Eugene “Gene’ Laughlin; brother, E.W. “Fritz” Richards; brother, Anthony “Tony” Leister; sister, Florence Gebhart; and nieces, Jeanne Pohlman and Joanne Pridey.
Born in Bavaria, Kansas on March 4, 1933 to the late Clifford Wesley and Minnie (Henry) Richards, Verlyn grew up in Culver and graduated from Culver High School in 1951. He went on to earn a B.S. in Accounting in 1956 and an M.S. in Finance-Accounting in 1960 from Kansas State University. He received his CPA certification in 1961, followed by a Ph.D. in Finance in 1967 from the University of Illinois, where he held a graduate teaching assistantship. During college he was an Army ROTC cadet and served in the Army Reserves for the following eight years.
His experience with a graduate teaching assistantship led Verlyn to realize that education was his true calling, and for nearly thirty years he enjoyed a distinguished career as a finance professor and department head in the College of Business Administration at K-State in Manhattan, Kansas. The instrumental role he played in forming the placement service for the Financial Management Association was a testament to his commitment to his profession, and he will be remembered fondly by colleagues and students alike.
After retiring in 1993, Verlyn was excited to have more time to indulge his interest in nature and history by serving on the board of directors for the Friends of Sunset Zoo and Friends of Konza Prairie. He graduated from the Konza Environmental Education Program docent training course in 1999 and found great joy in teaching others about the area’s history, geology, and famous bison herd.
Verlyn and his partner, Gene, shared an appreciation for the arts and actively supported several local cultural institutions. Longtime sponsors of the Hale Library Concert Series and the Friends of McCain Performance Series, they also served for many years on the board of directors at McCain Auditorium and the Manhattan Public Library.
Verlyn and Gene were also natural athletes and loved the outdoors. In the 1960s and 70s they delighted in taking friends and family out on their boat to water ski at Kanopolis Lake and Tuttle Creek Lake. In the 80s they took up downhill skiing in Colorado, where friends and family often stayed with them at their condominium in Avon and joined them on the slopes at nearby Beaver Creek Ski Resort. In later years, they took up bicycling and participated in the annual 500-mile “Biking Across Kansas” ride, as well as numerous other cycling trips throughout the U.S. and Europe.
Ever the avid travelers, they ultimately favored a less strenuous—but no less adventurous—mode of travel on cruise ships. Their journeys included a 60-day circumnavigation of South America to visit the South Pole, an educational Alaska cruise, several trans-Atlantic voyages to England, and three four-month world cruises. While they often traveled with friends from home, they also made new friends all over the world.
Somehow they always found time to visit family: for football and basketball games, graduations, holidays, birthdays, and all manner of celebrations. One of the most memorable such celebrations was an 80th birthday party for Verlyn and his fraternal twin brother, the late Fritz Richards, in March of 2013. Family and friends came from far and wide to share cake, conversation, and an all-around good time with the brothers at the home of their late niece Jeanne Pohlman in Olathe.
Verlyn was able to combine his love of family with his interest in history by pursuing genealogy as a hobby. His remarkable investigative skills helped him trace his matrilineal line back to eighteenth-century Belgium. In 2006 he traveled to Patignies to visit a memorial dedicated to his great-great granduncle Joseph Jean Henry, a founder of the Society of Freethinkers who helped organize the Meeting of Patignies and assisted in The Internal Workingman’s Congress in Brussels in 1868. On that same trip, Verlyn traveled to Gedinne, near the French border, where he had discovered that descendants of another great-great granduncle were living, and enjoyed a festive family reunion with these newly discovered cousins.
He is survived by nephews Jack W. Richards and wife, Susan; Robert Richards and wife, Kristie; Randy Pohlman; Roger Pridey; nieces Jeannie Stevens and husband, Dale; Kay Laubhan and husband, Vern; Karen Perry and husband, Jim; twelve great nieces and nephews, and eleven great- grandnieces and grandnephews.
He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by each and every one for his cheerful personality, his generous spirit, and his kind heart.
Public visitation and reception will be held on Sunday, September 11, 2-4 p.m. at Meadowlark Hills. A private family inurnment will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to the Verlyn D Richards Scholarship or the Meadowlark Hill Good Samaritan Fund, contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, Kansas 66502.