Lucille Frances Ridge was born on June 24, 1917, in the home of her parents, Eugene and Mabel Rauschkolb in Kansas City, Missouri, where she grew up and married Warren Cullen Ridge, Sr. in 1934. This "Finest Lady Ever", our beautiful, giving, forgiving and loving "Lou" passed away peacefully in Surprise, Arizona on November 4, 2013, maintaining her still keen mind and classic dignity to the very end.
As a young wife and mother, Lou always gave her exclusive concern to family, mainly as a traditional, devoted homemaker, but sometimes also working at banks and hotels, all the while following her husband's career with Southwestern Bell, moving from Kansas City to Hutchinson, Wichita and finally to Topeka, Kansas where they retired and settled in 1970. They celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary with their many friends and extended family in Topeka in 1984. A few years after Warren Sr.'s passing in 1992, Lou moved to Phoenix to be near her family.
She is survived by her son, Warren C. Ridge, Jr. and his wife Pat of Wickenburg, Arizona, three married grandchildren and their mother, Sherry Ridge of Salt Lake City, Utah. Lou's final days were softened and graced by visits from her treasured grandchildren, Stacey Lynn Gibbs (Mike) of Salt Lake City, Felicia Lou Beauchaine (Rick) of Bristol, Vermont; and Tripp (Warren C. Ridge, III) (Gretel) of Santa Barbara, California.
As an only child herself, Lou was immensely proud of her nine great-grandchildren. The four Gibbs boys from Utah are Matt (Bridget), Jake, Luke, and Nick. The Vermont Beauchaines are Ella and her identical twin brothers, Jack and Louis, and the California boys are C-Mo and Boo Ridge.
The family wishes to express its special appreciation to Evercare Hospice and its nurses and social workers, including particularly Tonya Emery, Amy Hayhurst, and Amanda Dowell. Also to Maria and Constantine Boldac of Golden Joy Senior Care in Surprise, who gave our loved one such gentle, attentive and understanding care.
Arrangements are being handled by Wickenburg Funeral Home in Arizona, and Penwell-Gable Mid-Town Chapel in Kansas. Funeral services will be held at 10am on Saturday, November 16, 2013 at Countryside United Methodist Church in Topeka where Lou was a longtime member. Burial next to her husband will follow at Penwell-Gabel Cemetery.