Ellsworth Montgomery Richter Jr.

1934-2016 Services will be held Sunday at 2:30pm at Crosspointe Church with a Visitation from 1:00pm- 2:30pm at the church. Also a Visitation will be held Saturday from 6:00pm-8:00pm at Legacy Chapel Funeral Home in Madison. May 19, 2016—Last night the population of Heaven was increased by one, as the Richter family gave up their beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.  Ellsworth Montgomery Richter, Jr, known as “Rick” to most and “Big Daddy” to a host of loving children and friends, passed away at 7:18 pm on Wednesday night in Madison, Al. Rick was the only child of Ellsworth M. Richter Sr. and Neily Spencer Richter. He was born 19 August 1934 in Birmingham, Alabama. He was a graduate of West End High School, 1953 and Auburn University 1957. At Auburn he was a four year scholarship recipient in Track and Field and received a BS in Electrical Engineering. He competed in the one and two mile cross county events as well as track and field for the Tigers and won many SEC events. Two weeks before graduation from Auburn, he met the Love of His Life (Susie Bright) and won the SEC two mile for the second straight year. In the 59 years since, he only stopped running when his hips and back said, “no more.” For the next 45 years the family enjoyed travel, touring all the lower 48 states and Alaska by cruise. Now he travels with “a great cloud of witnesses.” Including many ancestors who were pastors and preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. May 18 was also his mother’s birthday. Rick was an electrical engineer and worked for Alabama Power before his military service. He started in the Space Industry at Martin-Marietta in Orlando Florida in 1958-1960. In the fall of 1960 he and Sue moved to Huntsville where he enjoyed a wonderful career with NASA, he served in many areas of the space industry, but his favorites were the last two: working in the Neutral Buoyancy Tank facilitating Astronauts training. He moved on to the development of the Space Station’s Environmental Life support module.  Retiring in 1997 to a life of full time fun and travel with his beloved wife and faithful Dalmatian Gracie making many friends along the way. Rick served his Lord and Savior as a Bible teacher, soul winner and teaching elder for over 35 years at Calvary Bible Church. He was an avid student of God’s word learning both Greek and Hebrew. He served on many Christian service boards: like Child Evangelism Fellowship; Youth for Christ and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was an active member of Auburn Alumni Association and the Huntsville Track Club. Rick had a strong heart for missions, praying and giving to Bibles for the World, Institute of Creation Research, Concerned Women for America and Friends of Israel.   He is a current member of Cross pointe Church in Madison, AL. Rick and Sue raised 3 wonderful children:  Karen Richter Hill, (James H. Hill Jr.), Tallahassee, Fl; Ellsworth “Monte” Richter (Lisa Sims Richter), Birmingham, Al; Ross Andrew “Drew” Richter (Annabel Marquez Richter), Madison, AL. He is survived by 11 grandchildren: Jennifer Hill Taylor, TallahasseeFL.; Cindi Hill Marsiglio (Mark Marsiglio), Bentonville, AR.; James Andrew Hill (Jenny Rodgers Hill) Cooper City, FL; Aubrey Neily Richter Melgarejo (Curran Melgarejo) Birmingham, AL.; L. Spencer Hill (Katie Johnson Hill) Raleigh, NC; Hanna Hill Destigter (Chris Destigter) Kansas City, MO; Haley Richter Kennedy (Logan Kennedy) Knoxville, TN; Luke Lascola, Madison, AL.; Jack Richter, Madison, Al.; James H. Hill ,III, Tallahassee, FL.; Eli Richter, IV, Birmingham, AL.; His 4 great grandchildren are, Grace and Wyatt Marsiglio of Arkansas, Wes Taylor of Tallahassee, FL. and Nora May Melgarejo of  Birmingham.Donations can be made in lieu of flowers to the following Charities in Memory of Mr. Richter: Bibles for the World Institute of Creation Research Concerned Women for America Friends of Israel