Laura Richardson

On Thursday, June 2, 2022, Laura Jean Richardson, RN, loving wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away at the age of 85.
Laura was born on October 29, 1936 in St. Albans, New York to Milton and Anna (née Bachmeyer) Olivet. She received Nursing degrees from Queensborough Community and St. Joseph’s Colleges. Laura was a born caregiver who practiced nursing for 25+ years in New York and Connecticut. On November 10, 1962, she married Antonio Carmine Caracciolo, Sr. (known to all as “Sonny”) and together they raised four children, Tony, Charles, Michael, and Cathy. After years of darkness following Sonny’s death, she found a new light with Jack Richardson and they were married on March 28, 2016.
Laura had a passionate, can-do spirit and was always deeply involved in various communities and organizations. She coached girls softball and won a title in her first season; she played the accordion (to the chagrin of ALL her children); she marched as a chaperone in many rain-soaked parades alongside the North Eastern States Championship-winning Drum & Bugle Corps from St. Ann’s School; she learned how to ice skate in her 30s, having never donned a pair of skates before; she was behind the wheel of our wood-wagon on countless family road trips across the byways of 1970s America, pointing out scenic vistas to her uninterested children; she founded the award-winning FISH Community Volunteer Program at St. Ann’s Church, a phone-and-driver-relay organization which helped parishioners who needed rides to medical appointments; she completed countless school projects for her lazy children the night before they were due and didn’t even bother to disguise her handwriting to fool the teachers; she braved many an embittered winter Sunday in Section 332, Row 23, Seats 21-25 at Rutherford, New Jersey’s Giants Stadium, rooting on Big Blue teams that were either terrible or amazing, and nowhere in between; she returned to college to study Nursing in her 50s (her 50s?!) and, after bragging incessantly to the author of this obituary that her 4.0 GPA dwarfed his feeble GPA, began her career as a Nurse at Flushing Hospital; she would scream on rollercoasters as if her central nervous system was coming completely unraveled; she taught Bible Study at her church well into her 80s; she had a soft spot for neglected children and often took on the role of surrogate mom to the close friends of her children; she counseled her children to not feel sorry for themselves, but instead, to “keep putting one foot in front of the other” and soldier on through whatever obstacles life placed in their way.
Laura is survived by her loving husband, Jack, who was an absolute tower of strength and devotion during their time together; her children, Tony, Charles, Michael, and Cathy; her grandchildren, Chelsea, Claudia, Antonio, Sonny, Thomas, Sophia and Isabella; many nieces and nephews; and the legions of people whose lives were lucky enough to be touched by her and to feel the indelible impact she could have on a person.
Family and friends may call at the Nicholas F. Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Myrtle Avenue, Stamford on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 from 4:00-8:00 PM. A funeral service will be celebrated on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 at 9:30 AM at Turn of River Church, Turn of River Road, Stamford. Interment will be held privately.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Laura’s memory to a charity of own’s choice.
To leave online condolences, please visit www.cognetta.com