Service for Marguerite Elizabeth Gayle Richardson, 99, was held Wednesday at 11 am at Ebenezer Lutheran Chapel, with burial in the church cemetery. Memorials may be made to the 175th Anniversary Fund, Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1301 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201. Visitation with the family was in the church parlor/reception room from 10–10:45 am Wednesday. Mrs. Richardson was placed at Dunbar Funeral Home, Gervais Street Chapel from 9 am until 8 pm Tuesday.

Mrs. Richardson, wife of the late John Harvey Richardson, died Saturday, September 10, 2005. Born in Columbia, she was the daughter of the late Joseph Michael Gayle and Mary Magdalene Kind Gayle.

Mrs. Richardson graduated from University of South Carolina with a BS degree in education and English, returning to USC years later to earn her masters degree in social work. For 23 years she was employed by the State of South Carolina Children’s Bureau as a child adoption specialist. She also worked for the City of Columbia as the director of the Arsenal Hill Bigtop, a center for teenagers in the Columbia area. Mrs. Richardson also served as the director of a Senior Citizens Center operated by the Richland/Lexington Council on Aging. Following the end of World War II, she was the associate director of Columbia’s USO. During World War II, she was the secretary to the commanding officer at the hospital at Fort Jackson.

After her retirement from full time employment, she conducted travel tours for senior citizens throughout the United States, Europe, and the Pacific basin.

She was a charter member of the National Association of Social Workers, a member of the Academy of Social Workers, and a founding member of the Yellow Jasmine Garden Club. She had also been active in the local chapter of the AARP. Mrs. Richardson was a lifelong member of Ebenezer Lutheran Church, and until recent years, had been active in the life of the church, including 40 years as a children’s Sunday School teacher.

Surviving are her son and daughter–in–law, J. H. Jack and Patty Richardson of Columbia; grandson, Mike Richardson of Columbia; great granddaughter, Amber Leigh Richardson of Columbia; granddaughter–in–law, Tania Lee Richardson of Columbia; and niece Bette Kent Mason of Blacksburg, Virginia. Mrs. Richardson was predeceased by grandson, Franklyn Kent Richardson; brother, Frank Kind Gayle; and sister, Kathryn Louise Gayle.