Dr. Charles E. Richards

CAMBRIDGE -- Dr. Charles E. Richards, 90, died Tuesday (Jan. 13, 2004).

He was born July 9, 1913, in Holdredge to the Rev. William and Laura (Hamilton) Richards. He attended high school in David City. He graduated in 1935 from Hastings College in Hastings. He received his masters of science degree in zoology at Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill., in 1938. He earned his medical doctorate degree from the College of Medicine at the University of Nebraska in 1940. He went through intern training at Alameda County Hospital in Oakland, Calif., and was assistant resident there until he joined the Navy.

He was attached as a physician and surgeon to the Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet of the Marines. During his military career he served as Battalion surgeon, flight surgeon and aviation medical examiner. When he returned from the war he enrolled in the Harvard School of Medicine for additional medical training. After Harvard, he served as an American Cancer Society Research Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research. During the years 1949-1953, he was associate staff member of the Department of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic and a professional associate at the Division of Medical Sciences at the National Research Council.

In August 1953, he was appointed head of the out-patient department at the Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, N.C. He returned to the University of Nebraska Dec. 1, 1955, to be named the director of the Dispensary and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the College of Medicine.

In 1958, he accepted a position as advisor on medical education to Thailand. He was recognized for his contributions to Thailand by being awarded an honorary degree from Chiang Mai University, which was presented to him by the King of Thailand. In 1966, he founded and was the first Dean of the School of Associated Medical Sciences at the University of Illinois, the position from which he retired from in 1973. He tehn moved to Cambridge wo live with his sister and brother-in-law, Honor and Ome Shoemaker. He returned back to college and received an endorsement to teawch elementary education from Doane College in Crete. He then taught public school in the Cambridge School System. In 1977, he returned to Thailand and worked for the Bangkok office of the World Bank, assisting in their English writing and translation needs. He later was an advisor to Middle Eastern Governments and helped provide medical services.

He adopted a son, ThongPim Richards of Thailand.

He was a longtime member of the First Congregational Church of Cambridge.

He was preceded in death by his father, William Richards; mother, Laura Hamilton Richards; step-mother, Anna Howard Richards; brother, Lorney; niece, Judy; and grand-niece, Jamie Ann Shoemaker.

Survivors include his sister, Honor J. Shoemaker; sister-in-law, Lucille Richards; and many nieces, nephews and grand-neices and nephews.

Services are Monday, 10:30 a.m., at First Congregational Church in Cambridge with the Rev. Dana Keener officiating. Interment will be in Fairview Cemetery in Cambridge.

Lockenour-Jones Mortuary in Cambridge is in charge of the arrangements.