Heather Richardson

Richardson, Heather Holbrook

December 17, 1935 –October 17, 2025

Heather Holbrook Richardson, beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother, and great-grandmother, passed away peacefully at home on October 17th, following a long illness. She was 89.

Born in the shoreline village of Adam’s Cove, in the former British Colony of Newfoundland (now a province of Canada), Heather was the daughter of James and Ethel Diamond. Her family’s roots in Adam’s Cove dated back to the mid-1700s, when her merchant ancestors migrated from northern Devonshire, England, and acquired one of the British colony’s earliest land grants.

After World War II, Heather’s parents moved the family to St. John’s so their children could access better educational opportunities. Heather attended MacPherson Academy and commercial college before, at the end of 1955, marrying Leonard Holbrook, a U.S. Air Force officer and decorated World War II European bomber pilot, who was then stationed at the St. John’s American Air Force base. Together, they had two daughters while on military assignments in Plattsburgh, New York, where Heather was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in June 1958, Goose Bay, Labrador, where Lynn was born, and Merced, California, where Sharon was born.

In 1965, Heather’s family settled in Phoenix, Arizona, where she would make her lifelong home and career. Beginning in the early 1970s, Heather became one of Arizona’s best-known fashion figures, first as a runway and print model, then as Fashion Manager of the Arizona Biltmore Fashion Park’s Elizabeth Arden Salon, a position she held until its closure in 1991. She then continued as Fashion Manager at Saks Fifth Avenue, where her elegance, style, and professionalism inspired colleagues and clients alike. She was recognized in the 1980s as one of the 100 Most Influential Art and Fashion Personalities in Arizona.

In 1984, Heather married Charles (“Rick”) Richardson, with whom she shared more than four decades of love, travel, fine dining, companionship, and contributions to the Phoenix Art and Fashion scene. She is survived by her husband, daughters Lynn Holbrook and Sharon Holbrook Semple, both of Phoenix; and stepdaughter Marsha Holbrook Knapp, also of Phoenix; sisters Marina Wight of Victoria, BC, and Carol Miller of St. John’s, Newfoundland; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.