St. George, Utah – Donald Day Richardson, Major, USAF (Ret.), born on April 19, 1962, in Madrid, Spain, passed away on March 31, 2022, at the age of 59, in Murray, Utah. The youngest of four siblings, Don was raised in a military family.  During his young life Don lived in Washington, New Jersey, Arizona, and Holland before his family settled in San Antonio, Texas, in 1972. For years Don was the cute redheaded baby of the family, and much to the dismay of their parents, his siblings often enjoyed teasing him until they brought him to tears. As a young man, Don served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in North Carolina, and afterward, he graduated from Brigham Young University.

In 1988, Don joined the Air Force.  While assigned to a B-52 Squadron at Fairchild AFB in Washington, he married Jami Lynne Caruso on September 3, 1992, in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Don and Jami were married for 29 years and had four beautiful children together: Cooper, Kassidy, Colby, and Kyle.

Don had a remarkable military career.  He began flying in the B-52 Bombers and subsequently transferred to the USAF Special Operations Command, where he served as a navigator for 18 years in the AC-130 Gunship.  After 20 years flying out of locations all over the world, Don retired from the USAF in 2008.  In 2010, he was recalled to active duty because of a shortage of personnel with his level of expertise in Special Operations navigation. Don retired from the Air Force a second time in 2013, having served for 23 years.  After retiring from the military, Don continued to fly as a civilian contractor on 230 intelligence-gathering missions. Don also flew 385 combat sorties and was deployed worldwide over 35 times to Alaska, Hawaii, Haiti, Italy, Bosnia, South Korea, Central and South America, Afghanistan, and Qatar. From 2001 through 2013, Don was engaged in combat operations in Operation Enduring Freedom–Afghanistan and in classified missions to South America on more than 20 separate deployments.

Because his job with L-3 allowed Don and his family to live anywhere in the country, he and Jami chose St. George as the place to raise their children. While flying for L-3, Don's kidneys failed him.  He was fortunate that his college roommate, John Evans, donated a kidney to him in 2019.  Following Don's flying with L-3, he taught ROTC at Pine View High School until the time of his death. Don enjoyed hiking, backpacking, snowboarding and playing golf with family and friends.

Don enjoyed life to the fullest.  As one of his former commanders said, "In my service with him, I found him to be one of the precious few who cared enough to tell the truth always, without varnish. Don Richardson is a national treasure, and his moral courage is absolutely bulletproof." Don was a wonderful teacher, mentor, and hero to the many fortunate to know and work with him.

Don was preceded in death by his father, Marlin Cooper Richardson; and his sister, Carla R. Tiemann. He is survived by his wife, Jami Lynne Caruso Richardson; his children: Cooper, Kassidy, Colby, and Kyle Richardson; his mother, NanEtte Richardson; his brothers: Bert (Terri) Richardson and Brud (Sherryl) Richardson; his brother-in-law, Joe Tiemann; and many loving nieces and nephews.

A visitation will be on Friday, April 8, 2022, 5:00-8:00 pm at Metcalf Mortuary, 288 West St. George Blvd, St. George, UT 84770.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 9, 2022, at 1:00 pm at Pine View High School Auditorium, 2850 E 750 N, St. George, UT 84770. Interment with Full Military Honors will follow at Tonaquint Cemetery, 1777 S Dixie Dr, St. George, UT 84770.

In lieu of flowers,  please donate in Don's name to Donate Life America (donatelife.net), or to Don's family via personal donation, Venmo @DRichardson-Family .

Livestreaming of the services will be provided by Pine View High Art TV at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH44kxhwULPcq6tSyRYB-Lw

Donald Richardson Funeral Service Program