Vivian Richardson

Mrs. Vivian Mosley Richardson was born in Washington, D.C., in 1939, and made a sudden transition from her earthly home on Sunday, August 13, 2017. She was the oldest child of the late Tommy and Johnnie Mae Morgan Mosley.

In 1949, her family moved to the Bettis Academy area in Trenton, South Carolina, where she resided until 1963.

At an early age, Mrs. Richardson was baptized at the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Edgefield County, South Carolina. After relocating to Greenville, South Carolina, she joined the Springfield Baptist Church where she sang in the Senior Choir. Later, she transferred her membership to the Tabernacle Baptist Church where she sang in the Inspirational Choir, chaired several ministries and co-chaired and organized the Student Academic Program.

Educated in the public schools of Edgefield County, Mrs. Richardson received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, South Carolina and a Master of Education degree from Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina.

Her thirty-year teaching career included two years in Edgefield County and twenty-eight years in Greenville County, having taught at both Washington High and Carolina High schools. Indisputably, her students benefitted from her wealth of knowledge, her love for people, her high expectations, and her no-nonsense classroom discipline. After her retirement, she continued impacting the lives of young people by working as a reading coordinator for several years in the Phyllis Wheatley afterschool and summer programs.

Mrs. Richardson’s continued passion for education motivated her to seek an elected position on the Board of Trustees of Greenville County Schools. From December 1991 to November 2001, she represented District 23 with distinction. As a board member, she was a champion for more decision-making authority for principals and teachers and a leader in the effort to develop magnet schools at the middle school level.

Her professional affiliations included the Greenville County Education Association, the South Carolina Education Association, the National Education Association and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She was also a Golden Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Herbert Mosley.

Left to cherish fond memories are her devoted husband, Billy Richardson of the home; one son, Brian (Frieda) Richardson, Sr., of Summerville, South Carolina; one daughter, Stephanie Richardson of Greenville, South Carolina; four sisters, Pauline (Charlie) Holloway and Mildred (Wilmer) Davis, both of Augusta, Georgia, Mary Alice (Felon) Dailey of Louisville, Kentucky and Audrey (Curtis) Butler of North Augusta, South Carolina; three brothers, Tommy (Jean) Mosley of Silver Spring, Maryland, James Michael (Janie) Mosley, Sr., and Joseph (Linda) Mosley, both of Trenton, South Carolina; three grandchildren, Brian, Jr., Brooke and Bryson Richardson; one brother-in-law, Leroy Richardson; one sister-in-law, Martha Richardson; one godson, Rev. Wayne Hopkins; three goddaughters, Daniette Shell, Brittany Neely and Telia Shell; her best friend of fifty-three years, Carmelita Hopkins; and a number of other relatives and friends.