Obituary of Kathryn Trescott Ricks

Funeral Services for Kathryn Trescott Ricks of Jefferson City, MO, formerly of Elsberry, MO will be held at 2:00 p.m. Monday, April 20, 2015 at the Elsberry United Methodist Church. Rev. Paul Garven, church pastor, will officiate with burial in the Elsberry City Cemetery near Elsberry. Serving as pallbearers will be Marc Hill, Gil Dameron, Dale Hurley, Dennis Hammack, Steve Lilley, Eric Ruegg, Jim Heitman and Frankie Teasley. Honored friends are Joyce Ross, Max and Jennifer Rockwell, Juanita Lueker, Marcia Hill, Gracie Hill, Dorothy Koch, Sarah Hunt and Rob Guinness, Pat Stonebraker, David Colbert, Martha Schuster, Anna Mae Carr and Don and Winona Bowers. Kathryn, 95, died Wednesday morning, April 15, 2015 at Oak Tree Villas in Jefferson City. Born February 28, 1920 in Elsberry, she was the daughter of Mary Isabel “Isa” Smith and Lewis William “L.W.” Trescott. Kathryn was a 1937 graduate of Elsberry High School. She attended Lindenwood College in St. Charles, MO for two years. She taught elementary grades for Elsberry and Winfield School Districts for a few years. Kathryn was united in marriage on June 1, 1941 at the Elsberry United Methodist Church to O’Garlan C Ricks of Winfield, MO. This union was blessed with three children: Carol, Allen and Chris. O’Garlan and Kathryn owned and operated Ricks Funeral Homes in Winfield and Elsberry from 1937 until they sold the funeral homes to Larry and Kayla Carter in 1981. A lifelong member of the Elsberry United Methodist Church, Kathryn served as organist for over 70 years. A strong Democrat, she served as President of the Lincoln County and the Ninth District Women’s Democrat Clubs. She and O’Garlan were honored with the “Grassroots Workers Award” by both groups. Kathryn joined the Daughters of the New Century Club (a Federated Women’s Club) as a teenager and remained a DNC Honorary Life Member. She was a 77-year member and past president of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, Chapter AI in Elsberry. Kathryn was a longtime volunteer and assistant Librarian at the Joseph R. Palmer Family Memorial Library in Elsberry. Teaching Sunday School, working in her rose garden, making her “Famous” chocolate pies, traveling, giving book reviews, doing her needlework and refinishing antiques were among her many activities through the years. She was preceded in death by her parents, Isa and L.W. Trescott; her husband, O’Garlan Ricks, who died May 28, 2005 (his funeral was on their 64th wedding anniversary); and their son, Christian Trescott Ricks, who died August 18, 2014. Survivors include her daughter, Carol Ricks of Jefferson City, MO; one son, Allen Lewis Ricks of Manchester, MO; a daughter-in-law, Bonnie Steinbach Ricks of Jefferson City; one granddaughter, Andrea Ricks-Young of Sedalia, MO; a grandson, Christian Trescott “Scott” Ricks II and his fiance, Beth Rudder, of Mission, KS; and a great-granddaughter, Elizabeth Kathryn “Ellie” Young, who was the light of her life. She also leaves two sisters: Jeanette McMillin and her husband, Conrad, of St. Peters, MO, and Beverly Mueller and her husband, Ray, of Brentwood, TN; one brother, Lewis Trescott and his wife, Cathy, of Lake St. Louis, MO; several nieces, nephews, other relatives and many, many friends. Visitation will be held from 4:00 – 8:00 p.m. Sunday, April 19, 2015 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home in Elsberry; and from 12:00 noon until time of the service at 2:00 p.m. Monday, April 20, 2015 at the Elsberry United Methodist Church. Memorials may be made to the J.R. Palmer Family Memorial Library or the Elsberry United Methodist Church in care of Carter-Ricks Funeral Home, 107 South Fifth Street, Elsberry, MO 63343.