- April 5, 2025
-
-
Loading
Sarasota has lost a longtime civic and environmental advocate as well as a business leader. Robert Allen Richardson died March 29. He was 86.
Richardson was born in Hamilton, Ohio, north of Cincinnati, Aug. 18, 1938.
He moved to Sarasota in 1962 and worked in concrete, then had a traveling job selling boats. Since 1972, he had been involved in the sale and development of commercial real estate in the area, founding Richardson Realty. In the 1980s he became one of the principals of Richardson Kleiber Walter.
Among the projects he helped develop during his real estate career are the Northgate Business Center, Sarasota Commerce Center, Clark Road Industrial Park, Sarasota County Interstate Business Center, Tallevast Business Center, Gateway, Mission Estates and Ashton Road Industrial Park.
“He was a powerhouse. Everybody in business knew him or of him,” business partner and friend Bill Kleiber says. “Somebody told me that Bob had ‘maze vision.’ You could put an issue or problem in front of him, and he could see how to solve it.”
Richardson's vision drove him to choose to develop areas like Northgate and the Clark Road Industrial Park, Kleiber says.
“Bob was a super achiever,” Kleiber says, describing Richardson as a mentor and visionary who was forever dedicated to self-improvement. “He transferred a lot of that into his philanthropy.”
Richardson’s role in shaping the Sarasota area extended beyond commercial real estate into nonprofits. He was past chair of the Downtown Partnership, Goodwill Industries Manasota and Manatee Sarasota Sierra Club.
At Goodwill Industries Manasota, Richardson helped “provide leadership to Goodwill’s fledgling real estate investment strategy as a way of serving the most people,” recalls Rev. Don Roberts, CEO of the nonprofit from 1997 to 2012.
Before Richardson came on the scene, he says, Goodwill boards were hesitant to make real estate investments.
“Bob helped our board to understand how critical real estate investments in donor centers and retail training centers made good sense,” Roberts says in an email. “If Bob said it was a good deal, everyone thought it was a good deal. Goodwill’s ‘you guys are everywhere’ is a result of Bob’s commitment to people first and real estate as a strategic move to make it so.”
Richardson was a charter member of the Argus Foundation and helped found Sarasota County Openly Plans for Excellence. In 2006 he won SCOPE’s Boundary Crossers award, given to citizen leaders who transcend their familiar territories to become community builders.
SCOPE honored Richardson for putting the “community agenda first,” noting he was “instrumental” in raising funds for the Environmentally Sensitive Lands tax to protect natural habitats. “He is also passionate about providing youth with the opportunities that could change their lives and has led backpacking trips for Inner City Outings and helped organize a trip to Peru for Boys & Girls Clubs and Girls Inc.,” according to SCOPE.
“Bob Richardson was a man of humility, generosity and integrity,” says Michael Hartenstine, a retired real estate lawyer for Williams Parker who represented Richardson for more than 30 years. “He was an eternal optimist, both in his real estate business and in his belief in a society of engaged citizens working together for the betterment of our community and country.”
Richardson’s commitment to civic life and the environment was manifested through his presence within organizations across the region.
And sometimes those commitments, on paper at least, could appear to be at odds — but Richardson, his friends and family say, could deftly follow his passions. He was a past member of the Sarasota Planning Board and president of the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce in 1984, for example, while he was also a founding member and past president of the Friends of Myakka River State Park. He was also on the board of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and Florida Sierra Club and held leadership positions within the Sarasota Jaycees, Leadership Florida, Sarasota Board of Realtors and Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. He volunteered more than 2,800 hours with Sarasota Memorial Hospital as well, according to a statement from his family.
“He was so engaged with everybody,” business partner and friend Kathleen Kleiber says. “If you knew him, he was your friend.”
Richardson is survived by his three children: Renee Kling, James Frederick and Jennifer Shafer; grandchildren Danielle Kling Burke and Sydney Grehl; great-grandbaby Addison Grehl; and his longtime companion, Kathy Schersten.
According to his obituary, Richardson raised his children to be self-reliant and adventurous with the mantra: ““Life’s tough — get your butt on the ball.”
He took his own advice: at age 80, Richardson was biking 50 miles a week and had biked across Georgia and Florida. While he always came home to Sarasota, he had traveled to 42 states, 36 countries and six continents. He also volunteered for 10 years with Myakka River State Park, leading 40 to 50 trips with hundreds of participants to Deep Hole, a sinkhole in the park popular for viewing wildlife.
In lieu of flowers, his obituary says, “take someone on a hike. Fund something that matters. Speak the truth. Be useful. And get your butt on the ball.”
