Carmelita Elizabeth Morris Richardson

MS. CARMELITA ELIZABETH MORRIS RICHARDSON

MAY 29, 1926-OCTOBER 18, 2022

Ms. Carmelita Elizabeth Morris Richardson, a longtime resident of Columbus, passed away on Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at Ohio State Hospital East. She was ninety-six years young.

Ms. Carmelita was born in White Pine, Tennessee on May 29, 1926. Her parents were the late Lovossor V. Morris and Wilma Olvetta Ruffin Morris. Ms. Carmelita was the fifth of seven children. Her siblings were Odell, Geraldine, Ruby, James, Alberta, and Raymond…. all of whom predeceased her, excepting Alberta Morris Drummond, who presently resides in Glendale, AZ.

Ms. Carmelita is a descendant of Africans brought to this country in bondage, on both sides of her parentage. She graduated from Apollo High School in Apollo, Pennsylvania, and was valedictorian of her graduating class in 1943. She postponed college to contribute her talents to the war effort, inspired by African American newspapers like the Pittsburgh Courier which urged black Americans to join a “Double V Campaign” to defeat Hitler and Fascism abroad, and end Jim Crow segregation and inequality at home.

Ms. Carmelita traveled to Washington, D. C. and worked for Dr. Roscoe Conkling Brown of the Public Health Service, whose efforts to improve health conditions among minority groups through the National Negro Health Work of the Public Health Service were well known. She moved to Columbus later and worked for the Social Security Department, retiring from that agency after 27 years.

Ms. Carmelita married Robert W. Richardson in 1973. The couple undertook two memorable trips to the Holy Land. She was widowed in 2009 after thirty-six years of marriage.

Ms. Carmelita was a devoted member of The Church of Christ Apostolic Faith Church on Brentnell Avenue for many years; and, more recently, an active member of God’s Grace Deliverance Apostolic Faith Church on Fairway Boulevard. She is survived by her sister Alberta, and by several nephews and nieces who always cherished her counsel and attention.

Arrangements by Diehl-Whittaker Funeral Services.

Internment Service: Friday, November 18, 2022, 1 P.M., at Huntington Chapel

Greenlawn Cemetery, 1000 Greenlawn Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43223.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to one of Ms. Carmelita’s favorite causes: the Negro College Fund, Salvation Army, and the N.A.A.C.P.