TAMPA - It was such a dangerous job that the Army wouldn't even order soldiers to do it in the middle of World War II. So Stephen Richards volunteered.
"When they say "Who wants to volunteer for bomb disposal?' not too many people stand up," said Marjorie Richards, Mr. Richards' wife of 51 years. "But he's just that kind of person, calm and cool. He knew he'd be able to do the job and come back in one piece, which of course he did.
"He was a wonderful man."
Mr. Richards, 81, died Thursday after a long battle with cancer. Friends say he brought the same integrity and confidence into his postwar business that he displayed in the Army.
"He was a very likable, down-to-earth and unpretentious individual," said Emmett Lee, executive director of the Tampa Port Authority from 1980 to 1990. "He was just an all-around good guy, and whatever Steve told you, you could take to the bank."
A Tampa resident since 1961, Richards was an engineer by profession, and has been called one of the pioneers of the Port of Tampa. He was instrumental in founding and developing many of the companies in the fertilizer industry that have helped bring Tampa's port to international prominence.
"He contributed to building the port into what it is today," Lee said.
Mr. Richards was just 23 and a captain in the 123rd Ordnance Bomb Disposal Squad of the Third United States Army when World War II ended, and opted to stay in the Army after the war.
In 1946, he single-handedly defused and dismantled a cave full of German bombs left behind in what was then Czechoslovakia. While he was doing that he uncovered documents that were later used in war crime trials. That service earned him the Soldier's Medal for Valor, the U.S. military's highest peacetime honor.
He worked his way through Georgia Institute of Technology, graduating in 1948.
Shortly after that, he moved to a small town in Texas called New Gulf and took a job with Texasgulf Sulphur Co. One night an older co-worker invited him home for dinner.
At the dinner table was Marjorie Swartz, who before long became Mrs. Richards.
"I think my father brought him home to meet me," Mrs. Richards said. "My father certainly picked a good husband for me."
The couple moved to Tampa in 1961 and a few months later bought a home in Palma Ceia where they raised their three daughters, Freda, Kathleen and Robin. Mrs. Richards still lives in the same home.
"He was a wonderful father," Mrs. Richards said. "He was so smart and sharp. He taught calculus at Georgia Tech and he spoke so many languages. If any of the girls was having trouble in school he'd help them, it didn't matter what the subject was."
Mr. Richards was an official of several Port Sutton companies, and started several of his own. His local career included work with Port Sutton Inc., Rivergulf Terminals Inc., Brimstone Terminals Inc., PakTank Corp. ThermoTank Terminals, Inc., and Pasco Terminals.
"Steve was a diligent, honest gentleman, and he had the best interest of Tampa, and the growth of Tampa, in mind in whatever he did," said former business associate John M. Allison Jr.
A burial service is scheduled for Myrtle Hill Cemetery, 4107 E Lake Ave., at 1 p.m. today, followed by a 3 p.m. memorial service at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. Friends may attend both.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the St. Andrews Foundation, 509 E Twiggs St., Tampa, FL 33602, or Children's Home Inc., 10909 Memorial Highway, Tampa, FL 33615.
