During a mathematics class he took during his freshman year at Geneseo, Tim Richter ’67 noticed a young woman seated in the front row who always had her hand raised and seemed to know all the answers.
“I always shook my head, thinking ‘That person knows all the answers all the time,” he recalls with a laugh. “That’s how I became attracted to her.”
It was an attraction that eventually became mutual, although not without an awkward moment or two. Tim asked the young woman, Linda Hurd, for some help in the class and she agreed.
“At that time, if you got an A on each test during the semester you didn’t have to take the final exam,” said Tim. “I ended up not having to take the final exam but she had to take it.”
When asked if she earned an A on that final exam, Linda Hurd Richter ’67 gave an emphatic and direct answer.
“You bet I did,” she said.
At Christmas time during their senior year, Tim and Linda were married, and the two education majors began a union spanning several decades of devoted service to education in Genesee County, and that also produced two children, who both became teachers; and three grandchildren, two of whom are teachers.
Linda Hurd Richter ’67 taught special education for Genesee County B.O.C.E.S. and Tim was a computer coordinator-teacher in the Oakfield-Alabama School District. In 2004, the couple created a family foundation and have been generous supporters of their alma mater, particularly through the Timothy ’67 and Linda ’67 Richter Endowed Scholarship, which is awarded each year to Oakfield-Alabama graduates who enroll at Geneseo.
“We think that kids should not have to graduate from college with these humongous bills and loans to pay,” said Linda. “We help Geneseo students out, and we paid for our children’s education and our grandchildren’s education because we believe in education, and that’s the way it should be.”
“My high school grades were not the best in the world, and if I wanted to go to Geneseo today, I probably would be refused,” said Tim. “However, they took a chance on me, so I have always considered it a fantastic thing that they would have done that.”
The Richters expressed their hope that because of how much they gained from Geneseo that Richter Endowed Scholarship recipients will be motivated to support the College financially, as well and help others to attend Geneseo.
The Richters’ support and encouragement for education extends beyond their generosity to the College. Nearly 20 years ago, the Richter Family Foundation became the first affiliate in New York state of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which ships books monthly to pre-school-aged children. After initially being centered on the Oakfield-Alabama school district, the Richter Family Foundation’s efforts now include all the school districts in Genesee County. To date, the Richter Family Foundation has shipped more than 82,000 books to children in the county. The Richters’ efforts on behalf of the Imagination Library, like their support for Geneseo, is rooted in their passion for education and its transformational impact on students.
“We don’t do it for publicity, we do it because we think it’s the right thing to do,” said Tim.
