This is the last photo that I have of my kids with their Grandpa Ricks (Mike's dad). This was taken before he went to the hospital to have a biopsy taken from his lung. In my gut I had a feeling that it would be the last time we would see him in this life, so I made sure the kids gave him a hug & I took this photo. Then I hugged him, kissed his cheek, and told him that I loved him. By Saturday he was gone. As a family, our hearts are broken and grieving right now. I'm posting the life sketch of my sweet father-in-law that was written for & delivered at his funeral this past Wednesday by his granddaughter Tiffany Logan and myself.
Life Sketch for Larry Hugh Ricks
We feel very honored to have been given the opportunity to write and deliver the life sketch of Larry Ricks. To all of us here, Larry was a loved one, friend, sweetheart, dad, Grandpa and Great-Grandpa. He was indeed a man who lived his life, his way. When he made up his mind to do something, he did it. He was a man known for his loyalty, honesty, and humor. Contemplating his life these last few days has been a humbling experience, and we are grateful to be able to share moments from his life with you.
Larry Hugh Ricks was born on Thursday July 25th, 1935 in his Grandmother Hicks’ house in Rexburg, Idaho. Larry was the son of Silas Edwin and Georgia Theola Green Ricks and younger brother to Jean Ricks Wolfley. His amazing mother wrote about his life on an almost daily basis. Reading these journals filled with stories from his youth made it difficult to choose which to share. These are a few that stood out the most.
Throughout much of his life, Larry lived on his family’s homestead in Alta, Wyoming. As a small child he was sick quite often, but was strong willed and survived Scarlet Fever, Chicken Pox, the Measles, and the Mumps – all before he turned five years old. During his younger years he was the typical old time farm boy. Larry traveled everywhere on his trusty mare, Old Clara. He claimed he could tromp and ride after the cows, sheep, and anything else he needed to. Most times you could find him with a trap in one hand and either a gun or a bow and arrow grasped tightly in the other, waiting to wreak havoc on any small unsuspecting creature that crossed his path. Larry was taught to make his own arrows and would always volunteer to unload any shells in his Daddy’s shotguns when needed. Since his Daddy was gone much of the time, either herding sheep on the mountain or at the mill, Larry would take the opportunity to be the man of the house and get dinner for the women when needed. Once his Daddy even told him, “Son, we can’t afford to feed you.” and he responded with “That’s okay ‘cause I can feed myself”. He would trap squirrels in small traps, hunt rabbits with a gun, and use his bow and arrow to get a chicken for his mamma’s supper. At the age of eight, Grandpa Green caught a bear in a trap and let Larry shoot it. For an eight year old boy, that was pretty exciting!
Just like any other younger brother, Larry had a strong personality and enjoyed teasing his sister at every opportunity. As a result of his teasing, he ended up on the receiving end of numerous spankings. He even wrote in his journal, “I was kinda naughty. I really don’t mean to be but things just don’t go right sometimes. Daddy had to spank me. I don’t think it helps.”
During High School Larry was a little bit of a rebel. He was one of the guys out in back of the school, smoking and drinking. Even as a teacher’s son, he absolutely hated to go to school. His journal is full of entries that included the phrase “I can’t wait until the weekend”. While nearly every Monday was described as something he dreaded as he knew he had to head back to school for another week. In fact, when Larry was a Senior in High School, he decided he had simply had enough of school. He had only 2 weeks left until graduation, but decided he was quitting school altogether, and headed home. That day when he announced to his mom exactly what he had done she made it known that he obviously hadn’t thought very hard about his decision. Then she said, “Two weeks? Two weeks isn’t a very long time. You can stand on your head for two weeks if you had to.” Needless to say, he went back to school the very next day and finished. Larry shared this story with his kids as they grew up and faced hard times. In fact, it had a tremendous impact on Mike. When he is facing a difficult trial or challenge he will often remind himself of Grandma Ricks’ words to his father, “I could stand on my head for two weeks if I have to.”
Larry was two years older than Nelda Ard. They went to high school together, but never hung around with the same group of friends. It wasn’t until Spring of 1956 that they had their first date when Larry took her to Green Canyon. After that, he would simply pick her up from work at the drug store so they could take long drives or cruise Main Street together. What happened next is a perfect example of how when Larry made up his mind about something, he did it. He had decided that he wanted to marry Nelda Ard. So when Nelda left for LDS Business College in Salt Lake City, he followed her. They married on December 28, 1956.
Larry was a hard worker. He drove truck for many years for various companies including Morgan Driveway and Barrett Mobile Homes where he would haul trailers. Vicky remembered this most vividly because she would drive the pilot car for Dad and he would inform her before, during and after the trip that she was doing it all wrong. Though the only reason it was wrong was because Dad couldn’t be in the pilot car and the big truck at the same time. Larry also worked as a “Bugger” where he would spray trees. Pam recalls her Daddy coming home from work and running to give him a big hug, only to break out into hives a couple of hours later. She always thought she was allergic to her Daddy but later learned that it was just an allergy to the pesticides. Larry worked for Fall River Electric for many years where he worked as a Power Plant Operator and the final twelve years before retiring as a meter reader.
These are only some of the jobs that Larry held in order to support his growing family. Larry and Nelda became the loving parents of five children. The oldest being Vicky who recalls Dad teaching her to spin cookies in her pinto correctly after observing her try without success. She recalls “Dad took me down to the school yard and showed me how to spin a cookie using the parking brake. Then to make sure I would be able to do it correctly he had me practice it all the way back home. “
Second in line was Pam who remembers relating to her Dad most during her self-proclaimed “hooligan days”. It was at this time that he understood her best because he had been there himself. Larry remembered vividly being a rebel in High School. He would counsel her about the choices she was making and what she was doing. But he always made sure to let Pam know that no matter what she did, it would never change the way he loved her and cared for her.
The third of the five children was Kirk. He reminisced about the time when dad woke him up at 5am one morning, so they could take dad’s boat and go fishing. They drove up to Yellowstone Lake and spent an entire day together, just the two of them, talking and fishing.
The fourth and only planned child of the family was Georgia. She fondly recalls night after night sitting with Dad watching T.V. shows and scratching his back. As soon as she would stop scratching for even a moment, Dad would gladly tug on one of her toes to remind her about what she had been doing so that she would start scratching his back again.
The fifth and final surprise for Larry and Nelda was Mike who was born four years after Georgia and was fourteen years younger than his eldest sister. Growing up he probably had the most time by himself with Dad than any of the other kids just because he was so much younger than the others. Mike remembers spending time together with Dad riding horses, hunting and fishing. To this day he doesn’t really recall how many fish were caught, or whether they shot anything. What he does remember is that they spent time together as a father and son doing the things they both loved.
Larry loved a lot of things. But one of those things that he loved, and could absolutely never get enough of was cars. He loved everything about them – driving them, fixing them, buying them, selling them, and looking for them. After Larry went to the hospital in St. George for the first time, nearly the entire family made it down to visit with him. As we were driving Larry’s pick-up between their St. George home & the hospital, we found a section of newspaper stuffed in-between the seats. Upon further examination, we realized that it was the classified ads listing cars for sale. Larry had circled dozens of them. It brought a smile to our faces and tears to our eyes - He could just never get enough of cars.
One other thing that Larry loved, was telling stories. They were as simple as his latest argument and as complicated as his relationships with his children. They reflected his greatest joys, hardest challenges, or his favorite Alaskan adventure. He would tell these stories over & over again until all who were close to him, knew them by heart. The last few years he would often say, “I’ve probably already told you this story before, but I don’t care, I’m going to tell it again” and then he was off & sharing.
For those of us who “joined” the Ricks family by marrying into it, we knew we had finally become a real piece in this wonderful family puzzle when a story about you was finally being told by Larry. It was one of those things that made you feel like you truly belonged. I still remember very clearly the first one that was “truly mine” in Larry’s story arsenal. I’d share it with you, but like a lot of Larry’s stories, it’s not exactly church material.
One of the last stories that Larry thoroughly enjoyed sharing with his family & friends was about something that happened to him while he was in the hospital in St. George. A doctor, whom everyone called Dr. “Sam”, was describing to Larry & his family about the mass they had found in his lungs. This doctor was from Africa, and had moved to the United States to practice medicine. When Larry asked Dr. Sam, “What do we do if it’s cancer?”. Dr. Sam replied in is thick African accent, “This is America man, we fix it!”.
Larry also loved Teton Valley. He loved fishing, hunting, and riding his snow machine. He loved driving to town and eating at local café’s mainly so he could enjoy the company of good friends. He loved watching westerns and his yellow cat that he had appropriately named “number 1”. He loved his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Most of them were scared to death of him at first, but soon came to understand that he loved them deeply, and missed them dearly when they weren’t around. And above all else, he loved his sweetheart.
In fact, a few years back Larry surprised us all. He had decided that he wanted to be sealed to his loving wife of 47 years in the temple. And like so many other times in Larry’s life, once the decision was made, he did all within his power to insure that it happened. On August 2, 2003 he took his sweetheart & loving wife to the Idaho Falls Temple so they could be sealed together eternally. His love for and relationship with Nelda Ard Ricks was now something that he could look forward to treasuring forever.
As Larry and Nelda got into their later life, they retired to enjoy their winters in St. George where Larry spent his time four wheeling with his many friends down there. There he was also known as Squeaky due to the bicycle that he rode around that would squeak every time the pedal made a full rotation. Larry enjoyed the sun, the peacefulness, and the laid back nature of the St. George area but just like when he was a child, he greatly yearned to be where his heart always stayed. In his home at the base of the Tetons.
As Larry learned of his cancer, he took his final journey to Teton Valley, where he spent his last few days surrounded by family and loved ones. His final precious moments were spent holding the hand of his one true love. On Saturday, January 24th, 2009, with the winds howling & the snow falling, Larry left us with warmth in our hearts and a smile on his face as he went to join his mother and father once again.
While he was in the Valley enjoying his days of retirement, Larry always made at least one trip every day into town. As he would drive by Georgia’s house on the way in, she would look at her family and say, “There’s dad checking up on us again”. It is small and simple things like these that will be sorely missed
Larry’s favorite quote hangs on the bulletin board in the kitchen in Alta. It is a quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley, and has been printed on the back of your program. We’d like to close our remarks by reading it to you.
“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey … delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, & interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas, and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”
Today we thank God for the life and example of Larry Hugh Ricks, whose ride on that “old time rail journey” came to its final stop last Saturday. Larry, we love you, we will always remember you, and we look forward to the day we can be with you again. We can’t wait to hear about the new stories & adventures you will have to share.
