Obituaries

Frances Richardson, employment advisor in NTID's Center on Employment, was killed in a car accident March 6. Richardson, a Fairport resident, was 48 years old.

Frances Richardson

During her 14 years at NTID, Richardson taught business occupations courses and provided job placement services to deaf students. She also gave outreach training to employers of deaf people, assisting them in developing better communication and work relationships. She had just completed a highly successful employer outreach effort the previous week in Austin, Texas, according to Gerard Buckley, director of NTID's Center for Outreach.

"Fran would tell me, 'I love the students I work with,'" says Kumba Hinds, employment advisor in NTID's Center on Employment. "She really cared about them, and she found happiness in seeing them succeed."

Richardson was former president of the RIT Women's Network and was also involved with Beginning Experience, the Injured Workers of Rochester, the Women's Ritual Group, and the Stillwood Study Association.

She earned a bachelor's degree in English from William Paterson College of New Jersey and a master's degree in business education from Suffolk University in Boston. For her master's degree she wrote the thesis "A Study to Determine the Frequency of Use and Perceived Effectiveness of Methods to Improve Language Arts Skills Used in Typewriting/Keyboarding Classes in Deaf Elementary and Secondary Schools in the United States."

Richardson enjoyed gardening, drinking tea and walking. She is survived by her two sons, Louis and Greg; her fiancé, Matthew Galleli; her mother; nine brothers and sisters; and many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews. Contributions may be made to the Injured Workers Resource Center, Twelve Corners Presbyterian Church, 1200 South Winton Road, Rochester, NY, 14618.