MOUNDS, Ill. ­-- Margaret Ann Palmer Richards, age 67, of Mounds passed away at 6:29 a.m. Saturday, March 26, 2011, at her home.

Margaret Ann was born Jan. 1, 1944, at St. Louis, daughter of the late Gerald L. Palmer and Edith Jackson Palmer.

Margaret Ann was raised by her grandmother, Ethel Palmer, and by three special aunts, Margie Rives, Lelia Ruth Palmer and Mermie Reeves.

She was preceded in death by her grandmother, parents and sister, Gerry Jean Packard.

Margaret Ann was a member of the First Baptist Church of Mounds; a 47-year member of the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary Post 178 at Villa Ridge, Ill.; the Cairo VFW Ladies Auxiliary 2649; a graduate of the Class of 1962 from Mounds Township High School; and was a housewife and homemaker.

On Aug. 24, 1963, in Mounds, she married James W. "Jim" Richards, who survives of Mounds; a son, Kevin (Ronda) Richards of Villa Ridge; a daughter, Lee Ann (Doug) McLean of Grand Chain, Ill.; three grandchildren, Krysten and Taylor Green, and James Michael Richards; special cousins (like sisters), Kay (Billy) Droge of Mounds and Karen Lasley of Lone Oak, Ky.; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Friends may call between 5 and 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Jones Funeral Home in Villa Ridge, where VFW Ladies Auxiliary services will be given at 7 p.m. by members of Cairo Ladies VFW Auxiliary Post 2649 and American Legion Ladies Auxiliary Post 178 of Villa Ridge.

Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home, with the Revs. Buddy Walls and Brian Lingle officiating. Interment will follow in the Spencer Heights Cemetery in Mounds.

The area Veterans Burial Ritual Team will serve as pallbearers and honorary pallbearers.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of memorials to American Legion Post 178, Franklin Mason, 635 Mason Road, Olmsted, IL 62970, or to Cairo VFW Post 2649, Attention: Jim Sheible or Barbara Wilson, 3313 Sycamore St., Cairo, IL 62914, in memory of Margaret Ann Richards.