Richard Tillson, 85, Elk Grove

Richard Tillson graduated from Indiana University with a master’s degree in social work, took jobs as a probation officer and, after a long career, rose to be a deputy director of the California Youth Authority. “His was a social work approach,” said his widow, Susan Meier Tillson. “He had a compassionate view of educating kids. He didn’t think you should give up on anyone.”

Tillson, 85, died of COVID- 19 on Aug. 26 at Carlton Senior Living in Elk Grove, just outside Sacramento, a facility that was one of the first retirement homes to have an outbreak.

He was born in Chicago and grew up in Indianapolis and in Dayton, Ohio. He moved to California in 1963, when he was recruited by the fast- expanding youth authority.

In the academic year of 1969- 70, Tillson attended Harvard University, where he had a fellowship to study law.

“He was very sociable,” recalled Meier Tillson. “He was the kind of person that brightened up a room. People would call on him to be master of ceremonies at events because he would always have something memorable to say.”

When they met, Meier Tillson said, she was a single mother who had dropped out of high school. He encouraged her to return to school. “Whenever I wanted to quit, he would bolster me up,” she said.

She eventually earned a PhD and taught criminal justice at Cal State Sacramento.

After Tillson retired from the youth authority in 1996, he worked for a decade as a part- time consultant for the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, a nonprofit research group focused on criminal justice reform. The Tillsons enjoyed traveling and took cruises to China and South America. In addition to his wife, Tillson is survived by his sister Myra Phillips, and his children Karen Tillson, Keith Gmeinder and Donna Gainsley, along with three grandchildren and one great- grandchild.