Mareta Jane Richards (Grandma Marty), 82, of Pittsburgh, PA passed away Thursday, July 30, 2015. A private gathering to celebrate her life will be held Thursday August 6, 2015 with her immediate family.
Mareta was born August 27, 1932 in Montpelier, ID to Robert (Leo) and May (Lucille) Rallison. She did most of her growing up in Logan, UT. After graduating high school she went to work in the atomic energy industry programming some of the first computers for General Electric building atomic weapons. She then went back to college at BYU where she met and married Hyrum Richards. She then went to work as a key punch operator for Morton Thiokol building rocket boosters for weapons and space craft. Then she followed Hyrum to Casper, WY where she was a housewife and mother to her two boys Danny and John. After they were raised she went back to college and got her Bachelor Degree in Computer Science from Weber State in Ogden, UT. She went on from there to work for Westinghouse writing code to assist in the building of nuclear submarines in Pittsburgh, PA. In the fall of 2014 at the age of 82 she finally retired.
She was on her way back to Casper when she fell ill but recovered. She then made it to Casper where most of her loved ones got to be with her and love her for her final days.
Her truest joys in life were her Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren. She loved the movies, plays and opera. She was a huge sports fan of all the Pittsburgh teams. Her favorite was the Steelers.
Grandma Marty was preceded in death by her parents, Leo and Lucille; brothers, Arvol and Richard; sister, Bernice and her infant daughter Callie Ann Richards.
Survivors include her sons, Dan Richards and wife Mary of Casper, WY and John Richards and wife Shannon of Carrolton, TX; seven grandchildren, Shanon (Dennis) Atkinson, Shelby (Mark) Hamrick, Rachel (Michael) Land, Myshell (Marshall) Tucker, Brittny (Brad) French, Elizabeth Garrett-Richards and Lane Cormier; six great-grandchildren, Colten and Mason Atkinson, Adalynn Wade and Bailey Richards, Peyton and Piper Hamrick; two brothers, Eugene Rallison and Marvin Rallison and one sister, AnaLou (Tony) LePray.
In Lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Brain & Behavorial Research Foundation https://bbrfoundation.org.
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