Miranda Lee Richards dies at 44
Miranda Lee Richards, age 44 of New Hampton, died Wednesday Oct. 25, 2017 at her home.At her request, no service will be held. Instead, you are encouraged to go out to dinner with friends, have a really good dessert and raise your glass and bid farewell. Mandy will be cremated and her ashes, along with the ashes of Roscoe, will be spread in a “Beautiful Snowy Place” in Iowa. When it snows, catch a snowflake on your tongue and remember Mandy. Mandy was born Sept. 24, 1973 in Cedar Falls, to Nancy Eaton. They moved to Arlington, Texas when she was a baby and she attended Arlington schools and graduated from James W. Martin High School in 1992. She played the upright bass in the Martin Orchestra and electric bass in the Martin Jazz Band, along with taking many art classes. Upon completion of high school, she attended Northwestern State University of Louisiana in Natchitoches on a full scholarship in Music. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art in 1996. In her adult life, she worked at Kroger, a large supermarket, as a Human Resources Manager in Arlington, Texas. She then moved to Norman, Okla. and took a job in the Costume Shop of the Opera Department at the University of Oklahoma. This is where her love of creating art, sewing, and teaching of the arts thrived. She created many one of a kind costumes, taught costume students how to sew and worked many operas and musicals that required helping actors change in and out of costumes and fixing costumes during the shows. In 2016, she decided it was time to move close to family and fulfill her dream of owning an old house with character in a place with real winters and beautiful snow. Though she only lived here for a little over a year, it brought her great joy to bake, craft and be close to family. Mandy lived in four states during her lifetime and has beloved friends spread out across the country. She had no children of her own, but she loved her friends’ children and her cousins’ children like her own. The love of her life was Roscoe, “the best dog ever,” that she adopted in 2002 from a shelter. They were reunited as he died a few short days after Mandy’s passing. If you know Mandy, you know that she loved people and pretty things. She loved sleeping in late, staying in PJ’s all day, hot chocolate on cold mornings, snow, watching movies, laying in the hammock, going to dinner with friends, cuddling with Roscoe in bed, all things black and white houndstooth. She loved finding a great deal at an antique store, white dishes, growing flowers, baking desserts including mile high meringue pies, cakes and beautiful cookies. She loved celebrating birthdays and making special desserts and homemade gifts to make the birthday person feel special and loved. Every one of her friends felt as though they were the “BEST” friend because that’s how she made everyone feel. Mandy Richards is survived by her sister, Allyson Eaton of Fort Worth, Texas; many aunts, uncles, including Jack & Betty Gorman of New Hampton, Merle and Dolly Gorman of New Hampton, Joan Porche of Olympia Fields Ill., and Mary and Dave Sweet of Decorah. Many cousins and a multitude of friends that were family. She was preceded in death by her mother, Nancy Eaton in 2016.
Hugeback Johnson Funeral Home in New Hampton is entrusted with arrangements. Online condolences for Miranda's family may be left at hugebackfuneralhome.com
