A servant's heart

Byron Richards loved his Deep East Texas community. He worked decades as a banker and served as the mayor of Groveton, Texas for 10 years before his death in early 2021. Always a man of great faith, his busy schedule often kept him from devoting more of his time to church and study. It was after his retirement that he began looking for ways he could serve others. 

“My dad was always a Christian,” his daughter Gina Hollis says. “Later in his life he started going to church more and attending Bible studies. He shared with me that he prayed a lot about how he could serve the Lord and what else he could do.”

Byron decided he wanted to serve as a volunteer chaplain at St. Luke’s Health – Memorial Lufkin Hospital. It would prove to be one of the most meaningful decisions of his life. Sitting with patients, hearing their stories, being there when they felt most vulnerable, was deeply fulfilling for her father, Gina says. 

“He absolutely loved it,” Gina said. “He said it was his calling, and he felt like he was doing the Lord’s work.”

When he passed in early 2021, Gina decided to honor Byron’s service by establishing a fund in his name. The fund supports mission-focused initiatives at the hospital. For Gina, a fundraiser herself, the decision to give wasn’t difficult.

“I’ve always tithed at church and I’ve given to things over the years that I feel are meaningful,” she says. “I thought to myself, ‘Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is?’ I didn’t have enough to do an actual endowment at this point, but I just thought what a way to honor him.

“Because I know he was so passionate about it. He loved it. And it makes me feel good knowing I can honor him in a way that I think he’d be really proud of.”