Alton F. Richards was born in Ogden, Utah on June 22, 1904. His father was Ianthus P. Richards, a committed Latter-Day Saint who knew Brigham Young personally. His grandfather, Samuel W. Richards, knew Joseph Smith personally. Richards moved to Pine, Idaho, when he was five years old. He attended school in a one room log schoolhouse, and was taught by his sister, Regina. Richards was baptized a member of the LDS church on August 11, 1912, and shortly after his family moved back to Ogden, Utah. He obtained his Associate of Arts at Weber State College, and a Bachelor of Arts in Math from the University of Utah, with minors in Physics and Psychology.

Richards married Phyllis Krogue in the Salt Lake Temple on June 17, 1931. They had five children: Don, Rex, Kim, Rama, and Lerene. He was ordained a member of the quorum of the seventy in 1941, and became a high priest in 1943. He became a counselor in the 1960s and was ordained an LDS bishop on October 29, 1967. He also held several teaching positions within the LDS Church.

From 1940 until his retirement in 1969, Alton F. Richards was a math teacher at Mound Fort High School and Ben Lomond High School, both located in Ogden, Utah. He was also a first aid teacher in World War II, and taught night school at Weber State University from 1954 to 1955. For a number of years, he was a state Democratic Party convention delegate.