RON RICHARD, A PROPRIETOR AND POLITICAL FORCE, PASSES AWAY

Ron Richard, a former BPAA board member who climbed higher in the world of American politics than any other bowling center owner, passed away on June 9, less than a month shy of his 76th birthday — which would have been celebrated, appropriately enough, today — on the 4th of July.

Richard was the son of Carl Richard, a top bowler of the mid-20th century who would go on to own (and expand) 4th Street Bowl in Joplin, Mo., as well as five other centers with his four sons — Ron, Barry, David and Randy. That five-member father-and-sons team won the title in the 1971 Missouri State Bowling Association Championships, an accomplishment the family treasured. Carl Richard also bowled for the Chicago Falstaffs during bowling’s Great Team Era and in the ill-fated National Bowling League for the Kansas City Stars.

While he was an accomplished bowler and successful proprietor under the C&N Bowling Corporation and Carl Richard Bowling Centers banners, Ron Richard’s interests extended to public service and fueled his first foray into politics — a successful Joplin City Council run in 1990. He served on the Council for four years until being elected Joplin Mayor. After that, it was on to state politics, in which Richard remained active until early 2019.

Former U.S. Senator Roy Blunt called Richard “an extraordinary leader. His service as both Speaker of the House and President Pro Tem of the Missouri Senate was unmatched. Any time I saw him in the last 25 years he would always ask what he could do for me. And then he always did it. He was a great friend and I will miss him.”

In 2006, Richard was honored with the sixth Ruben A. Dankoff Award for Public Policy and Legislative Service. While the award normally recognizes BPAA members who are active in lobbying legislators, Richard actually was a legislator who made a difference for small-business owners in his home state.

For more on the career, accomplishments and contributions of Ron Richard, who died from complications of bladder cancer, see the “D.C. Watch” column in the August issue of BCM.