Vera Richter, whose generosity helped spur community recreation projects and send many South Coast students to college, died last week at her home in Coos Bay. She was 102.

The Marshfield High School graduate was a teacher by profession, but kept herself busy with volunteer activities in the arts, sciences and religious fields.

She also offered a helping hand to local children, whether in financing their education or giving them a place to play.

Perhaps her grandest gesture was to refurbish Coos Bay’s swimming facility.

After donating to the Mingus Park pool for several years, Richter single-handedly financed the restoration of the facility’s deck and pool in 1998. Pool manager Kathe Stufflebean credits Richter with encouraging the city to pass a bond levy to rebuild the swimming pool’s fieldhouse, too.

After being told the pool was leaking and its dimensions prevented it from hosting official races, Richter asked how much it would cost to replace the 50-year-old facility.

Caddy McKeown, who sits on the Mingus Park pool management group, said there were no plans to go forward with the project until Richter asked if the pool could use a significant infusion of money.

“She said ‘I’d like to do that,’” McKeown said. “She really came forward.”

Richter initially made the donation anonymously, though later on, she allowed pool staff to inform the young swimmers what her role was.

“I don’t think she ever used it herself,” said Robert Mahaffy, a longtime family friend and representative of Richter’s estate. “She would go and sit and watch the kids swim. She loved children.”

As a member of the Philanthropic Educational Organization Sisterhood, Richter also expressed this love by paying the college tuition of many Coos County students.

“She would stick with someone as long as they were making forward progress,” he said. “She thought everyone ought to have a chance.”

College-educated herself, Richter taught seventh- and eighth-grade classes at the old Harding School, specializing in art and music. She pursued these interests as a member of the Coos Art Museum and Oregon Coast Music Association. She also spent time with the Coos County Historical Society, Friends of the Library and the Order of the Eastern Star. She served as president of the Women’s Civic Club and volunteered with the Bay Area Hospital Auxiliary for more than 25 years.

Richter also financially supported the Coos Art Museum, the Boys & Girls Club of Southwestern Oregon and the construction of Coos Bay’s existing skate park.

Raised in the Presbyterian church, Richter became a pillar of the First Presbyterian Church of Coos Bay. She was an ordained deacon and ordained elder, serving as chairwoman of several church committees.

Even late in life, Richter remained active in the church. The Sunday before she died, Richter was in attendance, asking the Rev. Bill Taylor how she could help the church community. He told her to keep the church members in her prayers, to which she informed him that she already was doing so.

“She was always interested in everything and everybody,” said Reni Woods, church clerk and elder.

Vera Blusson Richter was born March 23, 1906, in Spokane, Wash., to August and Dorothy (Swan) Blusson. She died June 3, 2008. Rev. Taylor presided over her memorial service Monday.

After moving to the area in 1923, Vera married Uno Richter in Coos Bay on June 28, 1930.

Richter is survived by two grandchildren, nieces and nephews and family members in Canada. She was preceded in death by Uno Richter in 1977, and her son, Richard, in 1984.

Mahaffy describes Richter as a second mother.

“When she quit driving, I would take her around places,” he said. “We would be tooling around and it was kind of like ‘Driving Miss Daisy.’

“She’ll be missed, but she had a perfect life. She was frugal with herself but generous with everybody else.”