Steve Richard was proud of his Lynnfield roots

Published April 1, 2020

STEVE’S MOTHER Edie and her little brother Richard Dutton Pope. In her reflections, Edie described their many adventures together. They enjoyed cavorting about their 10 acres of land that included “two barns, a pump house, sheds of various sizes, an apple orchard, a haying field, and a woods full of trees that led down to Pillings Pond.” (Courtesy Photo)

By HELEN BREEN

LYNNFIELD — Our town is mourning the death of our friend and neighbor Steve Richard, a recent victim of the COVID-19 virus.

Steve had great pride in his family’s roots in Lynnfield. A few years back, I came across several reflections written by his mother, Edie Pope Richard (1927-2017), about her delightful childhood growing up on Pope Farm. After the population of the town tripled in the 1950s, the property was taken by eminent domain to be the site of the Summer Street School.

When I wrote a few articles based on Edie’s recollections, I asked Steve to send me some family pictures. He readily complied.

Family legacy

Progress had stepped in, where once, after Thanksgiving we went into the woods to pick red berries to make holly bowls for the Christmas season. Where was the spot where my uncle’s camp stood, the late Harold Pope who came down from Wollaston every summer with his family? And where are the happy summers we shared with our cousins, roaming through the woods? Our late great, great grandfather, Micajah Pope, had purchased the property, where the school now stands in 1870 and drove his 25 head of cattle down from Squantum.

The purchase price of $6,000 included land down to the now Hackett property and also land across the street where the present Todd Lane exists, extending down to Walnut Street. The original deed to Solomon Watson from the King and Queen of England is now secured in our town library.

In years gone by, I’ve been told, people would get off many trains into Lynnfield on their way to their summer camps around Pillings Pond and stop at the Pope Farm for fresh vegetables, milk and eggs.

How I wish my children could have roamed the orchards and woods behind our house and played behind the rocks in the deep pit, where Fred Perrin’s house, 250 Summer St., now stands. The fun of exploring many nooks and crannies in our huge barn and many sheds attached to our barn and many sheds attached to our old homestead built in 1690 is something they will never know.

The house is gone, the barn, the sheds, the old pumphouse, the many gardens and orchards and alas the beautiful woods.

Where? Where have they all gone?

— From the Lynnfield Historical Society bulletin, March 1978.

RIP Steve Richard

Steve’s mother Edie Pope Richard would have been proud of Steve and his lovely wife Karen Nascembeni for their continued support of the Lynnfield Historical Society, including their chairmanship of the Christmas “Country Store.”

A message left on our Board of Selectmen’s website on March 23, 2020 said it best: “His legacy will endure for generations to come, and Lynnfield is a better place for all of us because of his efforts.”