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 RIP Wife of J P (Big Bopper) Richardson
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| Author | Topic: RIP Wife of J P (Big Bopper) Richardson |
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Janice Brooks Moderator From: Pleasant Gap Pa |
posted 10 January 2004 02:25 PM
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Friends, Family Remember The Bopper's Widow >>>> >>>> BEAUMONT - If people can die of a broken heart, Adrianne "Teetsie" >>>> Richardson Wenner did, her son Jay Richardson said from his home in >>>> Houston Thursday after learning of her death Wednesday, January 7, > 2004. >>>> >>>> The woman, brushed by fame when her young husband, J.P. Richardson, >>>> known as "The Big Bopper," was killed in an airplane accident in 1959 >>>> shortly after being catapulted to celebrity in the music world, never >>>> really stopped mourning, her son said. >>>> >>>> The Big Bopper started his career as a Beaumont radio disc jockey. In >>>> addition to writing George Jones' hit "White Lightnin'," he also scored >>>> a huge national hit single with his own smash "Chantilly Lace." >>>> >>>> His widow's death came almost to the very day 52 years ago she met >>>> Richardson, when visiting in Beaumont. It was a meeting that impacted >>>> her life forever more, Richardson said. >>>> >>>> "Her sister was pregnant, and my mother was sent to Beaumont to help >>>> her. Mother heard him on the (local) radio. It so happened my uncle > knew >>>> someone at the radio station and called him up, and then invited (the >>>> Bopper) over for dinner. That was January 1952, and they were married > in >>>> April." >>>> >>>> Teetsie and J.P. "Big Bopper" Richardson were making their home on >>>> Detroit Street in Port Arthur in 1959 when the news came that he had >>>> died in a plane crash transporting him and two other rockers - Buddy >>>> Holly and Ritchie Valens - from one concert to another. >>>> >>>> Richardson said his mother made a lot of friends in Beaumont throughout >>>> her life. >>>> >>>> "She fed the town, whenever there was a gathering place, a big event, > we >>>> hosted anything that was going on," he said. And many people have > tasted >>>> Wenner's Cajun cooking. >>>> >>>> "A lot of people have had mama's cooking. I'm expecting a big turnout >>>> (at her funeral) because she touched the lives of a lot of people," >>>> Richardson said. >>>> >>>> Wenner died at her Beaumont home, and at this writing the cause of > death >>>> was not published, but Richardson said although "she had a good time" >>>> and "was a very colorful person," he believed that his father's > untimely >>>> death overshadowed everything in her life. >>>> >>>> "The anniversaries, certain times of the year, every year, were just >>>> very, very difficult for her," he said. "I don't know what the coroner >>>> is going to say, but I know she died of a broken heart, whatever else >>>> people tell me." >>>> >>>> Jay Richardson has a sister Debra Joy, and half-siblings from his >>>> mother's second marriage to Andrew Wenner - Joseph, Jerry, James and >>>> Denise Henke Wenner. >>>> >>>> "She was just an all-American mom, and a great Cajun cook," Joseph >>>> Wenner said while arrangements were being made at Broussard's Thursday >>>> for her funeral. >>>> >>>> Richardson would eventually wend his way into the entertainment world, >>>> at age 37, to form a "Big Bopper Jr." act, that he brought to Beaumont >>>> in November in a tribute to his father, Holly, and Valens, the trio >>>> killed while on their Winter Dance Party Tour in '59. >>>> >>>> Was Teetsie influential in his decision? >>>> >>>> "She was instrumental in my not doing it until I was 37 years old," >>>> Richardson said, "because mother never wanted me in the business, that >>>> she felt took Dad from her. But once I did, she embraced it." >>>> >>>> Pat Galloway, longtime friend and neighbor of Teetsie Wenner, said she >>>> had spoken with Wenner when the two were attending her son's > performance >>>> in Beaumont in November. >>>> >>>> "That's one fine lady, and I'm gonna miss her very much," Galloway > said. >>>> "She loved her kids; she loved her grandchildren. She was so down to >>>> earth, never negative, and spunky, and always told you the truth. > That's >>>> why I loved her. One of those types of friends everyone wishes they >>>> had." >>>> >>>> Visitation will be at Broussard's Chapel on McFaddin Friday at 6 p.m.; >>>> services will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at St. Anthony Cathedral, and >>>> burial will be at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. >>> >>> ------------------ |
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