'The end of an era' with Tom Richards' passing

The highlights from the life of Tom Richards read like someone who loved his community.

Consider that he was co-founder of Jobs Plus and the Kootenai Health Foundation, president of the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce and the Coeur d’Alene YMCA, chairman of United Way campaigns, commodore of the old Diamond Cup hydroplane races on Lake Coeur d’Alene, oversaw one of the biggest mergers in North Idaho’s forest industry and was quietly a major donor to scores of causes and events.

Few were aware of all Tom Richards did. Few knew just how generous he was.

For good reason. 

That’s the way he wanted it.  

“My dad worked really hard to keep everything he did for the community under wraps,” said his son, who also goes by Tom Richards. “He just cared deeply about the community he lived in.” 

His dad didn’t need recognition and didn’t want his name on anything. 

“He just wanted this to be a good, healthy community for people to live in,” Richards added.

Tom Richards passed away surrounded by family and friends March 22, 2025, in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 88. 

The Coeur d’Alene High School graduate built a name for himself by treasuring his family, building up his hometown and helping those around him, said his son. 

Richards and his identical twin brother, John, were born March 17, 1937, in Spokane to John Smith and Ruth (Triplett) Richards. Raised in Hayden Lake, Richards graduated from Stanford University with a degree in economics and earned his master’s in business administration from Harvard. 

He and his wife, Sheila, were married in 1961 in California and raised a family in Hayden Lake 

Richards joined the family business as manager of the Atlas Tie mill in 1961 and helped put together a merger of Atlas Tie and the DeArmond Brothers sawmill in Coeur d’Alene to create Idaho Forest Industries in 1963. 

Tom Richards said his father wanted his employees to have the best pay and benefits because he believed that was the true path to success. He also made sure IFI’s 80,000 acres of timberlands were operated sustainably. 

“My dad would tell me he was doing this because he was a good businessman and needed the most productive timber mill,” Tom Richards said. “He wanted Idaho Forest Industries to be the best place to work.” 

For many, it was.

So good was a job at IFI that employees opted to decertify their union in the mid-1970s. 

“It was something my father was very proud of,” his son said. 

Richards was president of IFI until 2000 when he retired and the company was sold to Stimson Lumber.   

But business success aside, those who knew Richards praised him for his generosity, dedication to community, love of family, always giving behind the scenes and refusing any credit. 

“When listening, passion, vision and leadership are combined with caring and the intention to truly help, you get the life of Tom Richards,” said Charlie Nipp of Coeur d’Alene, a longtime friend who began working with Richards nearly a half a century ago. “He invested his personal time and resources, helping develop individuals and organizations, to grow and flourish to be what they could be, and what they are today.” 

Nipp served with Richards on nonprofit boards and business groups and learned much from him. He said Richards led by example and inspired others. 

“He somehow believed in me, encouraged me, coached me and helped me understand the needs and find ways to improve the community,” Nipp said. 

He said the region became a better place because of Richards.

“When I think of all the people in the community, he's at the top of the list of a person who truly cared about his community and just made a huge, huge difference,” Nipp said. “We are all going to miss him deeply.” 

Longtime local Katie Brodie spent summers on Hayden Lake as a child. Her older brothers were friends with Tom and John Richards, and she tagged along often. 

“I squealed on everything they ever did,” she said, laughing.

The families remained close over the years, and she later worked for Richards in real estate and other ventures. 

“Every job I had, somehow Tom Richards' fingerprints were on it,” she said. 

She said Richards gave his best to everything he did and encouraged others to do the same. 

In the 1970s and '80s, Richards was a key player and influencer in North Idaho, one of those who made things happen. He worked hard not for himself, but to create opportunities for others. He and his brother were known for their hearts to help.

"They wanted to do good for their community and they didn't want to make a big deal out of it," Tom Richards said.

Brodie said the passing of Richards was "the end of an era."

"And it was a fabulous era. Anybody involved in that era will feel the same way I did,” Brodie said. 

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    Tom Richards, wife Sheila Richards and son Tom Richards at The Snake Pit, 1986.