Submitted Photo Richardson family members, from the left, Lataine Brown, Bert Richardson and Trish Healy, have spent considerable time researching the story of Air Force Capt. William “Bill” Richardson and his plane crash in North Dakota. Brown and Healy are sisters and Bert Richardson is their cousin.

The family of Capt. William “Bill” Richardson has been piecing together the story of Richardson’s military career and the crash for a number of years.

Bert Richardson, of San Antonio, Texas, a cousin to Bill Richardson’s daughters, has been instrumental in helping gather the information. His dad, Capt. Marlin Richardson, and Bill Richardson for a time were the only two fighter pilot brothers in the Air Force.

On Aug. 12, 2005, Richardson family members, including Bill Richardson’s widow, Joan Richardson Singleton of San Antonio, Texas, her daughters, Trish Healy and Lataine Brown, and Bert Richardson, attended the rededication of Richardson Hall, a dormitory named for Bill Richardson years earlier on Oct. 6, 1967. Patricia Traynor, a public affairs officer at Minot Air Force Base who lives in Devils Lake, set up the rededication after learning the family was not aware the dormitory had been named for Richardson. She also conducted the rededication ceremony.

A few years later, there was another surprise for the family.

On May 14, 2020, retired Chief Master Sgt. Robert Haring sent an email to The Minot Daily News seeking help to locate a Richardson family member. Haring was stationed at Minot AFB from 1960-64 and worked as a crew chief on the F-106 aircraft. He now lives in New York state.

He said in the email, “Upon returning to the flight line I was told that the aircraft had crashed in Flasher, ND, and the pilot (Capt. William D. Richardson) had been killed. I was a member of the team that was dispatched to the crash site to recover the wreckage. During the recovery I found a bent up 50-cent piece that must have been in Capt. Richardson’s pocket. I know it’s a long time ago but I would like to have a relative (wife or daughter) contact me so I could send it to them if they would like it.”

The newspaper contacted Trish Healy with Haring’s information. She contacted him and she now has the coin.

On March 27, 2023, the Richardson family gathered for a memorial service for Bill and Joan Richardson at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio. The service included full military honors by the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Honor Guard in Texas along with a flyover for Bill Richardson. Originally, he was buried in his home state, Mississippi. Joan Richardson Singleton died last September in San Antonio.

“So many incredible things have happened relating to my dad that all started with the building dedication,” said Healy, referring to the rededication of Richardson Hall at Minot AFB, the coin found at the crash site and Scott Nelson and other community people in the Raleigh-Flasher area constructing and placing a memorial to her dad at the crash site.

Healy said she and her husband, Keith, plan to visit the crash site next summer.

Nelson, who was involved in constructing and placing a memorial at the crash site, said he would like to get everyone together from the community who helped with the memorial to meet with the Healys when they visit next summer.