Mrs. Emma Catherine Richards, age 89, of Wallace, NC died March 12, 2014 at Cornelia Nixon Davis Nursing Home after several years of declining health. The graveside service will be held at Rockfish Cemetery on Saturday, March 15 at 11:00 a.m. The Reverend Dr. Philip K. Gladden, pastor of the Wallace Presbyterian Church, will officiate. Emma was born in Wallace on November 9, 1924 to Jesse B. and Lillian S. Southerland. She grew up in Wallace and loved her lifelong friends there. She was a proud graduate of Meredith College in Raleigh where she met and later married the love of her life, Warren H. Richards. The Richards lived in New York and Massachusetts until returning to Wallace. Emma was preceded in death by her parents, her younger brother, J.B. Southerland and by her husband, Warren, after caring for him as an invalid for over twenty years. In Wallace, she was a member of the Wallace Presbyterian Church, the Wallace Book Club, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and her ladies bridge group. Emma loved her church, her family and her hometown and its residents. Emma was an independent Southern lady, a true extrovert who especially enjoyed a chance to laugh or make others laugh, She was a grand cook who often shared her stash of homemade pound cakes with those she felt needed them. Emma is survived by her children, daughter Susan and husband Mickey Frederick of Apex, NC and son Bill and wife Beth Richards of Wilmington, NC. She was Mom-Mom to five grandchildren, Brooke and husband Justin Sutherland and Scott and wife Brandy Frederick all of Apex, as well as Leigh Anne Dennis of Wilmington, Heather and husband Bill Sanford of Chapel Hill and Will and wife Heather Richards of Wilmington. Emma was great grandmother to Kayla and Julia Sutherland, Mason, Oliver and Liam Sanford and Joshua and Emily Richards. The family wishes to express their gratitude to Emma's circle and the members of the Wallace Presbyterian Church for always remembering her. The family also wishes to thank all of the people who helped Emma over the years of her decline, the John Robert Miller family, the staffs of Dayspring in Wallace and of Spring Arbor in Wilmington. The family wishes to offer special appreciation to the staff and doctors at Davis Healthcare in Wilmington for the extraordinary gracious dedication to helping Emma. The family is so very thankful to the staff of the Lower Cape Fear Hospice who offered remarkable wisdom and care at the end of Emma's journey. Memorials may be made to The Wallace Presbyterian Church, 205 West Main Street, Wallace, NC 28466; to Davis Healthcare, 1011 Porter's Neck Road, Wilmington, NC 28411, or to the Lower Cape Fear Hospice, 1414 Physicians Drive, Wilmington, NC 28401. To sign the guest book, go to www.padgettfuneralhome.com A service of Padgett Funeral and Cremation Services, Wallace