Chris Richter - Class of 1970

Chris Richter is a 1970 graduate of Bridge City High School.   He is the son of Margaret and Bill Richter.  Fond high school memories include time spent in the band, Future Teachers of America, the yearbook staff, and the National Honor Society, as well as influential instructors like Maurice Fitzgerald, Patsy Leverett, Elaine McCullough, and Floy Crawford.  

 After graduation, Chris received a bachelor’s degree in French and history at Lamar University, graduating in 1973.  He was a member of Pi Delta Phi, Phi Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and the symphonic and marching bands while at Lamar University. 

Chris’ career began with a term assignment in capital project scheduling at DuPont Sabine River Works in 1974.   That assignment led to a job offer from DuPont Engineering in 1978 in project procurement.   In 1979, Chris began a tour of assignments that took him, his wife, Erma, and ultimately, their family to Front Royal, VA., Chambers Works – Deepwater, NJ., Red Mill Construction - Wilmington, DE., Savannah River Works, Aiken, SC. and Beaumont, Texas.  Each of these assignments included work in one or more of several project management processes:  capital project procurement, contract administration, project accounting, and controls.  After Beaumont, Chris led various US Regional teams and trained personnel assigned to European sites.   He helped develop training materials for business services and contract administration personnel, leading the implementation teams for each initiative.  Chris retired from DuPont in 2014. 

Throughout those years, Chris was active in church music, beginning as organist/director at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Bridge City.  He served as choir director of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Front Royal, assistant organist at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Newark, DE, organist/director of choirs at St. James Lutheran Church, Graniteville, SC, and organist/choir director for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Nederland.   Chris became the Director of Music at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Beaumont in 1995, serving there until late 2012.  When that congregation disbanded, Chris facilitated the donation and removal of the congregation’s Hofmann tracker pipe organ.   The 1,029-pipe organ, built in 1964, was donated to Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church in The Bronx, New York.  

Chris is currently the Director of Music at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Bridge City and the Director of Music Ministry / Organist at Calder Baptist Church in Beaumont.  He is a member of the American Guild of Organists and serves as Dean of the Beaumont chapter.  Chris is a member of the Jefferson County Appraisal Review Board.  He serves as a guardian ad litem / educational surrogate for children in the conservatorship of the state of Texas and is currently assigned to two cases.

Chris and his wife, Erma, a 1973 graduate of Bridge City High School, have two children: Aaron (Senior Pastor, Triumphant Lutheran Church, Garden Ridge, TX, and married to Sarah) and Julie (administrative manager, Townsley Designs, Cedar Park, TX).   Erma and Chris are proud grandparents of three grandchildren: Charlotte, Margaret, and Adam.  

Chris’ brother, Doug (1971 BCHS alumni), and his sister, Debi Foster (1977 BCHS alumni), continue their parents’ legacy by continuing the Richter Food Program started by their parents, Bill and Margaret.  The government stopped supplying food to the needy in Bridge City and Orangefield in the 1980s by the Richters garnished support and donations, and the free food program continues today with the assistance of St. Paul Methodist Church.  Food is given out on the first Thursday of each month.

Written by Charlotte Schexnider Chiasson (Class of 1970)