Adelle Ruth Ricketts

On the evening of September 19, 2016, Adelle Ruth Ricketts passed away peacefully in her sleep; while being attended to by the wonderful care givers at Superior Elderly Care home and Kindred Hospice. She has been greatly missed by her family and friends as Alzheimer's took her from us long ago. Adelle was born on Nov 26, 1929 in York, NE. She was the first daughter of the late Reverend George and Anna Koslowske. Her father was pastor of St. John's Lutheran church, LCMS, with the parsonage and grade school next to the church, and another grade school 2 miles north. All surrounded by farmers in the town of Waco, NE. Adelle graduated at age 16 from Concordia High School in Seward, NE, then worked a year at the school/boarding house before going to nursing school. She graduated from Lutheran School of Nursing in St. Louis, MO in 1950. She traveled to Denver with her father and fell in love with the city! When she told her friends she was moving to Denver, 3 of them decided to join her! They got an apartment at 10th and Logan and all got jobs at Children's Hospital, where Adelle worked in the infant surgery unit. Adelle and 2 friends agreed to participate in a church group function where they were to make a home-cooked meal, go to the USO Club where service men would be waiting, and bring the lucky men back to their apartment for dinner. While walking to the USO Club, they chickened out and went to Civic Center Park. As they were joking about what a crazy idea that was, along came 3 service men and one of them was Rick! The ladies invited them over for the dinner and that was that! From then on, Adelle and Rick were inseparable and married 3 months later on June 12th, 1952 by Adelle's father. The following month they moved to Tampa, FL, MacDill AFB where she was an RN at St Joseph Hospital. In Jan 1953 Rick was sent to Japan during the Korean War, so Adelle moved home to Big Springs, NE and lived with her parents while working at the hospital in Julesburg, CO. Steve was born in Sept 1953. Rick returned from Japan in June 1954 and was ordered to Stewart AFB in Newburgh, NY. In 1954, they were back in Denver at Lowry AFB and Adelle returned to Children's Hospital. In 1956 they moved to Urbana, IL where Adelle worked at Carle Memorial Hospital and Mark was born in March 1957. They returned to Denver in 1959 and she worked at Porter's Hospital. Mary was born in May 1959 and Katy in May 1963. Adelle decided to stay at home with her children (she was the best mother anyone could ever ask for!). In 1987 they relocated to Anaheim Hills, CA with Rick's job, lived there for 7 years, and then returned home to Lakewood. Returning to Colorado in 1959, Adelle and Rick joined Trinity Lutheran church. When they moved to Lakewood in 1963 they became charter members of Concordia Lutheran, and then joined St. Luke's Lutheran in 1985. They were members at St. Paul's while living in California. Adelle was always very active at every church she attended. She had a beautiful voice and sang her heart out in the choir, was an active member in the LWML, bible studies, various clubs, and Sunday school. She loved to travel to Hawaii and acquired the most beautiful moo-moo's! She also loved road trips to visit family and friends throughout the US. She enjoyed reading, hosting pinochle games and family dinners, and gardening. Her talents included piano playing, crossword puzzle whiz, crocheting, seamstress, excellent cook, neighborhood nurse, artist/painter, trivial pursuit aficionado, and much much more! Even with Alzheimer's she remained kind, sweet, caring and thankful for everything that anyone did for her. She also continued to give us her excellent life advice, much of which she attributed to her mother. All the staff loved her and told us what a pleasure she was. Adelle is survived by husband Rick, son Mark, daughters Mary and Katy (Chuck Hakala), grandchildren Alice and George Hakala, brothers Fred Koslowske and John Koslowske, and sisters, Lois Bruns, Karel Koslowske, and Betsy Triplette. Adelle was preceded in death by son Steve Ricketts, mother and father, and brother Bill. The family will receive friends on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 from 4-7 p.m. at Horan & McConaty 3101 S. Wadsworth Blvd. Lakewood, CO 80227. Funeral service will take place on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 at 11 a.m. at St. Luke's Lutheran Church 13119 W. 20th Ave. Golden, CO 80401. Family condolences may be sent to the attention of Horan & McConaty. In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to either the Salvation Army at https://give.salvationarmyusa.org or Denver (Citadel), Co: Corps Community Center 4505 W. Alameda Avenue, Denver or the Lutheran Hour Ministries at https://www.lhmgift.org or Lutheran Hour Ministries 660 Mason Ridge Center Drive St. Louis, MO 63141 Please share condolence messages and memories of Adelle with her family below.