Lucile Ann Rickert, 69

Lucile Ann Feistner Rickert, 69, died peacefully at home, surrounded by her husband and children, on May 1, 2007, after a seven-year battle with cancer, which she fought bravely and gracefully.

Lucile was born April 18, 1938, in Powell, Wyo., to Henry and Marion Feistner. She was the eldest of four children.

She met her husband, David H. Rickert, while attending Colorado's Woman's College. David was stationed in Denver with the Air Force. They were wed on Dec. 23, 1956. They enjoyed more than 50 years together.

Lucile was a devoted and beloved mother of nine children. She enjoyed sewing, gardening, traveling, reading, and going on family camping trips.

She was an avid Bible reader and lived her life according to what she learned therein.

Everything she did revolved around her family and her love for others, most demonstrated by the more than 40 years she devoted to obeying the Bible's command at Matt. 28: 19, 20, where it states, "Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." She enjoyed telling others how God's will being done on Earth would benefit mankind and even the last enemy, death, would be done away with (1 Cor. 15:26), followed by the Earth being transformed into a paradise where families would be reunited with loved ones they had lost in death (John 5:28, 29).

She dedicated her life to Jehovah God on Jan. 23, 1965.

Her family is grateful for the rich spiritual heritage she has passed on to them.

Lucile was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Steven E. Feistner; and her daughter, Laura J. Rickert.

She is survived by her brothers, Henry and Craig Feistner; sister, Jackie Howerton; her husband, David H. Rickert; and her eight children, David and Loreen Rickert, Dane and Rebecca Rickert, Deborah and Kahlid Sultan, Desiree and Ron Dickman, Drew and Tamera Rickert, Daphne Rickert, Daneane and Justin Hulford, and Darra and Travis Marx. She is also survived by 27 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, all of whom are "confident that Lucile is in Jehovah's memory and await being reunited with her on a Paradise Earth."

She was loved by hundreds of fellow worshipers.

A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. today, May 3, at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, 1414 Woodland Ave., with Dale Novak officiating. A gathering for family and friends will be held afterward.