Longtime Carson City businessman and entrepreneur Garth Richards at his 80th birthday party with his wife, Joanie, in 2015.
Garth Richards, a longtime capital businessman and philanthropist, died Sunday.
He was one day shy of his 86th birthday.
Richards was the developer of the Silver Oak project and the Silver Oak Golf Course.
A native of Carson City, he spread numerous donations to worthy causes in the capital over the years, including donating a 1.7 acre parcel worth over $900,000 as a site for 39 apartment units for homeless and low-income veterans. Richards Crossing apartments opened in April 2017.
He also held numerous fund-raisers at the golf course to benefit veterans.
Richards said at one point most of his contributions were financial because, “I’m a workaholic and don’t have the time to volunteer but I want to be involved.”
Among his many friends was Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev. In numerous events, the two would delight the other attendees with good-natured banter and friendly verbal barbs.
Contacted Tuesday, Amodei said Richards was “part of the fabric of Carson City since the ’50s.”
“Another one of Carson’s modern day founding fathers has retired,” he said.
Richards also donated land in Silver Oak that the Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada sold for $1 million to give them a jump-start on planning their new building.
Another beneficiary of his generosity was Western Nevada College, raising money to build a mechanical restoration shop. Richards was a long-time classic car lover who collected dozens of vehicles over the years. He donated a classic vehicle to the shop for restoration and funded the project with a $25,000 donation.
His wife Joanie was involved with the Carson Tahoe Auxiliary and managed the hospital gift shop for years. During that time he donated thousands of dollars to the hospital’s causes.
