Richard Summers Garrett's Obituary
Richard Summers Garrett stepped over into Heaven in Memphis, Tennessee, on Thursday, July 27, 2023, at the age of 93. Born in Memphis on April 8, 1930, to Jesse and Jerusha Garrett, Richard grew up in a small home near Cooper and Young. As number 8 of 11 children, hand-me-down clothes were a given! He graduated from Messick High School, lettering in Track. Richard served in the Army Reserves, once traveling on a train that caught fire during a deployment in East Tennessee!
Set up on a blind date by friends, he met 16-year-old Sylvia Marie Crick and married her 3 years later (1951) at Temple Baptist Church, where they worshipped for many years. In 1955, they bought a new home in East Memphis to raise their three children and still own that home today.
Like many of his siblings, Richard worked at Southern Bell, which became South Central Bell, Bell South, then AT&TÉ affectionately known by the family as the telephone company. He worked in various telephone offices in Memphis and in Germantown until his retirement as a manager at age 57.
When his children were young, vacations mostly consisted of tent camping and swimming in the creek at Blanchard Springs, Arkansas, with the occasional beach trip to Florida or visit to the Smoky Mountains. After retirement, Richard and Sylvia enjoyed traveling by RV and saw much of the United States, often running in to someone he knew!
Richard was a fan of University of Memphis basketball for years, watching the games on TV and working sudoku puzzles at the same time.
Richard was handy and knowledgeable, always fixing or building things both for his family and for friends. He loved woodworking and even dabbled in stained glass, adding decorative windows to shutters and cabinets in his own home. Whether adding a room or removing walls, building cabinets or laying hardwood floors, constructing a deck or repairing an appliance, he could do it all and was always happy to help! He would often show up to the job with donut holes for the team Ñ this way, he could eat donuts without Sylvia knowing he was having them! He once ran into his future grandson-in-law in front of Gibson's Donuts. Richard handed the young man $20 and asked him not to mention that he had seen him!
Richard was never too far from a coffee cup, as that was his beverage of choice. Pre-pandemic, he loved to meet with friends in the early mornings and have coffee at McDonald's, shooting the bull and solving all of the world's problems. Later years found his pockets always full of lemon cookies, which he gladly offered to everyone, including strangers he encountered in public some of whom accepted and ate these unwrapped cookies!
Richard leaves behind his beloved wife of 71 years, Sylvia, and their 3 children: Karen McNeill (Dan), Patricia Smith (Mike), and Bob Garrett (Kathy), as well as 6 grandchildren: Brandon McNeill (Regina), Patrick McNeill, Kelly Lovelace (Andrew), Kevin Smith (Camille), Reid Garrett (Tricia), and Kristy Bell (Paul). In addition, he leaves 10 great-grandchildren: Garrett McNeill, Mason McNeill, Aidan Lovelace, Noah Smith, Madeline Smith, Olivia Smith, Grayson Garrett, Caroline Garrett, Daniel Bell, and Paige Bell. Richard is also survived by his youngest brother, Jim Garrett (Marty) and his brothers-in-law, David Campbell and Joe Stephens.
A memorial service for Richard Garrett will be held on Tuesday, August 8, 2023, at Memorial Park at 5668 Poplar, Memphis, Tennessee, with visitation at 10am and the service at 11am.
And that's the way the mop flops.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6
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