George Rickel 1931-2022

George F. Rickel, 91, Hoyt, died Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, at Anew Nursing Home in Nortonville.

He was born Sept. 15, 1931, at a farmstead west of Hoyt, the son of Dennis and Harriett Woodhead Rickel. He graduated from Hoyt High School in 1949.

Mr. Rickel was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in an artillery unit near North Korea during the Korean War. He later worked 42½ years at Goodyear Tire and Rubber in Topeka, retiring in the early 1990s.

He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Meriden and United Steelworkers Union Local 307.

He married Alice Lowry on July 25, 1952, at Auburn. She died Oct. 25, 2007.

He was also preceded in death by his parents; a grandson, Timothy J. Rickel, on Sept. 19, 1984; a great-grandson, Orion Rickel, in infancy; a daughter-in-law, Linda Jane Rickel; three brothers, Clifford M. Rickel, Donald S. Rickel and Robert G. Rickel; and four sisters, Zadie B. Howe, Martha Jane Martin, Dorothy Mae Redding and Nancy Trumm.

Survivors include five sons, Cleon Dennis Rickel and wife Deb, Rogers, Ark., Gregory Eugene Rickel and wife Pam, Carbondale, Eric Wade Rickel and wife Karen and Rodney George Rickel and wife Cindy, all of Mayetta, and Randall J. Rickel, Hoyt; a daughter, Samantha Lynn Chapman, Topeka; two brothers, Charles B. Rickel, Mayetta, and Roland B. Rickel, Burlingame; 10 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; and a great-great-grandchild.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6 at Chapel Oaks Funeral Home in Hoyt. Burial with military honors will follow in Hoyt Cemetery. Mr. Rickel will lie in state after 9 a.m. Monday at the funeral home, where visitation will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to Elara Caring Hospice, sent in care of Chapel Oaks Funeral Home, P.O. Box 280, Hoyt, KS 66440.