Jack R. Ricker, age 80 of Helena, went to his heavenly home to his Lord and Master on Sunday, January 30, 2011 surrounded by his loving family at Benefis Hospital in Great Falls. He was born July 11, 1930 in Helena, Montana.<\/p>\n
Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Jack W. and Carol R. Ricker and a brother James.<\/p>\n
Jack graduated from Helena High School in 1948 then attended Carroll College. During his teenage years, he worked at Western Life Ins. Co. He worked for the Highway Patrol from 1950 to 1951. He began his work with the Department of Transportation in 1948 during the summer and continued with full time employment there. He worked in the Right-of-Way department at various levels and became Chief of the Right-of-Way Bureau for several years before his retirement in 1992. He spent a total of 43 years in the Department of Transportation. Jack also served in the National Guard from 1948 to 1957.<\/p>\n
He is survived by his loving wife Bonnie of 58 years; daughter Pamela Cronen and her husband Ray; son Bradley Ricker and his wife Cheryl; son Bruce Ricker all of Helena; Thirteen grandchildren, Travis Cronen, Melissa Newlon (Chris), Jennifer Brown (Bryan), Jennifer and Tylor Ricker, Lillian Mitchell, Risha, Ronnie, Russell, RyeAnne, Colton, and Jake Ricker and Cody Anne Bring; a sister Sharon Sewell of Spokane; and his brother Phil and his wife Merrilyn Ricker of Eagle River, AK.<\/p>\n
Jack spent his life devoted to his family, his Lord and church, he enjoyed his work each day. He liked to do carpentry work, woodworking, and reading. Jack served his church as a Deacon, Elder, board chairman for 4 years and served on various committees. Jack also sang as a member of the Barbershop Chorus and with the church choir for many years.<\/p>\n
Visitation will be held at Retz Funeral Home Chapel on Thursday, February 3, 2011 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Private family interment will be held on Friday, February 4, 2011 at Forestvale Cemetery. A Memorial service will be held at the First Christian Church at 311 Power St. on Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 2pm with a reception to follow. Pastor Scott Budlong will preside over the service.<\/p>\n
In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to the First Christian Church, 311 Power, Helena, MT 59601; the American Cancer Society, 550 North 31st, Ste 103,Billings MT 59101 or to a charity of choice. To send a condolence to the family or share a memory of Jack, please visit: www.retzfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/1056479.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/23282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}