Section of State Highway in Eighty Eight to be named honoring Bobby Richardson

Recognizing the lifelong commitment of service of a local attorney, a state highway will be named in honor of Bobby Richardson.

Richardson has served, and continues to serve, in many roles for the Commonwealth of Kentucky including the distinguished role as former Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Because of his honorable service, a resolution was approved in mid-April by the Kentucky Senate of the General Assembly to establish an honorary highway designation in Barren County to honor him.

The resolution was introduced to the General Assembly by Senator and President Pro Tempore David Givens, and it details Richardson’s numerous contributions of service. The resolution was approved unanimously, and Richardson was made aware of the honor.

“It is fitting and proper that Bobby Richardson be recognized and honored in a tangible manner for his life of achievement and public service to his community, the 23rd District, the General Assembly, and the Commonwealth,” the resolution states.

“It was indeed an honor to introduce the resolution to recognize Bobby as he is indeed a well-respected member of our community,” Givens told the Barren County Progress.

A Life of Service

Richardson began practicing law after opening a law office in Glasgow. He received his undergraduate education at Western Kentucky University and his Juris Doctor at the University of Kentucky.

A lifelong fascination with the legal system began for Richardson, and in 1971, he was first elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives to represent the 23rd District, which included Barren County.

During the 1976, 1978, and 1980 Regular Sessions of the Kentucky General Assembly, he served as House Majority Floor Leader and Speaker of the House of the Kentucky House of Representatives in the 1982 and 1984 Regular Sessions.

During his tenure of these years, Richardson successfully aided in and spearheaded initiatives to improve the General Assembly’s legislative independence from gubernatorial control.

“While serving as a state representative, Bobby Richardson was known for his soaring rhetoric and passionate delivery, resulting in numerous memorable speeches,” the resolution also highlights.

When asked about the speeches and if any were more memorable than another, Richardson said, “I think they were all equal.”

However, one of Richardson’s speeches while serving as Speaker of the House was so memorable that it is still iconic today among legislators who witnessed it, especially with new discussions resurfacing in Kentucky with SB 301 and in Alabama regarding in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Rep. Greg Stumbo told the Kentucky Lantern that Richardson delivered such a powerful and emotional speech following an intense debate over IVF in 1984 that it swayed the votes enough to pass a bill that would allow public funds for IVF, also known as fertility treatments.

“Unbeknownst to Stumbo, House Speaker Bobby Richardson, a Democrat from Glasgow who was an attorney known for his down-home common sense, stepped down from the speaker’s chair and walked down to one of the member’s desk to deliver a floor speech on the bill,” Jack Brammer with Kentucky Lantern wrote.

Stumbo said of Richardson, “A speaker never does that unless the speaker considers it extremely important. It gets members’ attention. He thought it was extremely important and his speech turned the tide.”

Richardson’s speech was both emotional and personal, citing his and his wife’s own infertility problems despite the couple never utilizing IVF.

Former Representative Bob Heleringer, who supported the 1984 bill along with Stumbo, told the Lantern that the 1984 Richardson speech was “the most effective” speech he had experienced in his 22 years as a legislator.

“Bobby’s speech was so spontaneous,” Stumbo told the Lantern. “It was the first time in the Kentucky legislature that Right to Life had experienced such a legislative defeat. I remember it like it was yesterday.”

Richardson is no stranger to politics. He was raised in a family of Republican politicians yet he is a self-proclaimed “dyed-in-the-wool” Democrat, according to the University of Kentucky Oral History Center.

While Richardson often jokes about how such a strong Democrat was spawned from a family of Republicans, he said in a 2008 interview with the Oral History Center that while growing up, “the Republican Party was pretty reactionary, and not very optimistic, more pessimistic.” The views of Republicans held no allure for him in his upbringing. However, he also credits the Kennedy era and Happy Chandler as having influential impacts on him.

State politics became an interest for Richardson as a high school senior when former Senator Richard Garnett arranged for him to be a page in the state Senate. He ultimately became acquainted with then-Secretary of State Henry Carter. Richardson said in his oral history interview that he longed for a small brass donkey, representative of the Democratic party, that sat on Carter’s desk. Even though he could never convince Carter to gift it to him, Carter’s daughter brought it to Richardson after he passed away. Richardson still displays the treasured donkey, which serves as a reminder of his burning interest in politics from such a young age.

Richardson retired in 1991 from the House of Representatives after spending 20 years representing the citizens of Barren County. In 2017, Richardson emceed the 137th annual Fancy Farm picnic.

Local newspaper publisher Jeff Jobe remembers Richardson taking the stage at Fancy Farm.

“Bobby had both Republicans and Democrats laughing at themselves, and it made me proud to be there representing our community newspaper as it was happening. We need more politicians like Bobby who can make us forget about the differences and instead share the common ground,” Jobe said.

Richardson continues to practice law in Glasgow and currently serves in his 55^th year as the city attorney for the City of Cave City. He continues to be a staple in Kentucky’s broader political culture even while approaching his 80th birthday in November.

Eighty Eight

Richardson is a native of the Eighty Eight community, rooted ten miles east of Glasgow. He was born to Robert E. and Nina Tucker Richardson on November 25, 1944, and in 1970, he married Elaine Alexander, and they had one son, Clay Brents Richardson.

His great-grandfather, T.L. (Tom) Richardson established a mercantile business in Eighty Eight in 1874. His great-grandfather, J.G. Branstetter, also established a store called J. G. Branstetter & Sons in Eighty Eight in 1886.

 

J.G. Branstetter’s daughter, Mary, married Tom Richardson’s son, Bob, and the two families became business partners in Branstetter and Richardson in 1896.

For nine decades, Bobby’s grandfather (Bob Richardson), his parents (Robert and Nina Richardson), and his two uncles and their wives (Paul and Eva Richardson and Brents and Rebecca Richardson) kept the store running from 1896 to 1986. The store became known as Richardson Brothers in 1945 until it closed in 1986.

The portion of the state highway will soon have markers placed to honor Richardson in the Eighty-Eight community, where his roots and life story first began.

The full story on IVF that mentions the 1984 Richardson Speech can be found at https://kentuckylantern.com/2024/03/11/ivf-controversy-echoes-memorable-debate-in-kentucky-house-40-years-ago/.