We are men who lead, serve, protect and defend, whether we are giving out Coats for Kids, donating wheelchairs, lending a helping hand in disaster relief efforts, supporting local pregnancy centers or providing top-quality financial products.
Eelection as Council 8157’s Knight of the Year is typically the result of outstanding commitment and service. Jim Richardson, our 29th annual honoree this past summer, sees it from the opposite perspective. Jim said receiving what he considered an unexpected honor presents a challenge to continue to live out the order’s four core values.
His selection this summer couldn’t have been unexpected by many. Jim is in his second fraternal year serving as 8157’s Deputy Grand Knight and doubles as the director of family activities. He also belongs to Assembly 2799 of the Fourth Degree and is its Faithful Navigator, that degree’s equivalent of the Grand Knight. Jim participates in the majority of council activities and is a terrific ambassador. He’s a member of both our council’s degree team and the diocese’s Spanish-speaking major degree team.
Jim is from the Texas border town of Laredo, became a Knight in 1962 and added the Fourth Degree here at Holy Spirit in 2009. He and wife Denise live in DeSoto and celebrated their 52nd anniversary on Oct. 12. They have four children (all living in Texas), 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; son Jim became a Fourth Degree at the same exemplification ceremony.
He earned a business degree from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. Jim’s varied career included government service on both the state and national levels. He spent two years as the director of Gov. Bill Clements’ office of regional development in the early 1980s and five years in the late ‘80s as the national director of minority business development, appointed by President Ronald Reagan. The Richardsons returned to Texas after that before Jim retired in 2008. Denise is a member of the Carmelite Order and is active with Holy Spirit’s Legion of Mary.
Congratulations to Jim Richardson, 8157’s Knight of the Year for 2015.
