EAST BERNE — Lora Ricketts worked as a nutrition instructor but her nurturing went beyond foods, sustaining her family and friends, and her larger Hilltown community.

For more than half a century, she documented small-town and family life in a weekly column for The Altamont Enterprise. Her correspondence arrived by mail, written in a beautiful cursive script — with no cross-outs.

Mrs. Ricketts died on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. She was 84.

She was born in Albany on Dec. 28, 1937, the daughter of Martha Richardson.

“Mother raised four of us pretty much alone,” said Patricia Sykala, Mrs. Ricketts’s sister. The family lived in Rensselaer and the children attended Catholic school at St. Joseph’s.

“Lora was the oldest child, protecting all of us. Our father was a horrible man,” said Mrs. Sykala. “He died when a bale of hay fell on him at the Port of Albany and none of us were sorry.”

The summer before Mrs. Ricketts was to start eighth grade, the family moved to Vermont, where George Longacker, stepfather to Mrs. Ricketts and her siblings, had a farm.

She attended a one-room schoolhouse that was heated with a wood stove and “we had to get water outside,” Mrs. Ricketts recalled in an Enterprise podcast last year.

“We were very hard workers,” said Ms. Sykala. “We had to do chores in the barn and we made maple syrup.”

Her next year in Vermont, Mrs. Ricketts took a bus to attend high school in Woodstock.

“She loved school and would do her homework by lantern at night,” said her granddaughter, Jennifer Smith.

Ms. Smith described herself “not as a granddaughter by blood but a granddaughter of the heart.”

Ms. Smith and Mrs. Ricketts’s grandson, Brandon Clark, live in East Berne next to the Ricketts home. In recent times, Mrs. Ricketts, who became prone to falls, would call them every night to let them know she was safely in bed.

During the pandemic, Mrs. Ricketts supported Ms. Smith as she worked from home to earn two degrees, a bachelor of science degree in nursing and, just a few weeks ago, a master’s degree in healthcare management.

“She insisted that I buy the cap, gown, and master’s hood so I could celebrate with pictures,” said Ms. Smith. “It won’t be the same not having her by my side for the pictures.”

When Mrs. Ricketts was 17, she met the love of her life, Raymond Ricketts. “She tells the story of how he was barefoot, in bib overalls, on a workhorse, but he was still able to get her to agree to a date,” said Ms. Smith. “He quickly swept her off her feet, and they were married on Oct. 13, 1956. The day was Friday the 13th, but she always said that was a lucky day for her.”

“When we were dating,” Mrs. Ricketts told The Enterprise, “he didn’t have a car. He’d pick me up on a big workhorse … He walked a good 12 miles to see me. I was the love of his life. He would do anything for me.”

“He sang a song to her and she fell madly in love,” said Mrs. Sykala.

The couple had their first child in 1957 when Mrs. Ricketts was 18. Their second child came when she was 20, and their third when she was 24.

“They worked on many farms before buying their own farm in the Hilltowns to raise their family,” said Ms. Smith. “She was very proud of being a Hilltowner, and when she was able, she was out in the fields helping Ray and the rest of the family do farm chores.”

Mrs. Ricketts liked to talk about her plentiful gardens and yearly canning of the harvests. Her farm sustained her for a lifetime.

“During COVID, she enjoyed watching her grandsons fish on a pond which is partially on her land, her portion fondly called Rooster’s Pond in memory of Ray and Danny, with great-grandchildren Maddie and Max,” said Ms. Smith.

Mrs. Ricketts’s husband, Raymond, died in 2008. Her son, Daniel, nicknamed Rooster, died in 2013, and her daughter, Marcia, died in 2018.

“She never stopped missing Ray or Danny or Marcia,” said Ms. Smith.

“But she always carried on,” said her sister. She put her love and energies into her ever-growing family.

Mrs. Ricketts had worked first at the school cafeteria and then became a nutrition instructor for Cornell Cooperative Extension “back when they gave the donated foods out,” she said. “You would get cans of Spam and cheese and we had to go out and show people how to make meals with all these foods.”

“Even recently, when out, people would come up and reminisce about the past classes they were a part of,” said Ms. Smith.

Mrs. Ricketts started out working with young families and, by the time she retired from Cornell Cooperative Extension in 2008 at the age of 70, she was working largely with senior citizens. “Believe it or not, they were not easy to always get the good meals made,” she said of the seniors she advised.

Mrs. Ricketts herself always felt at home in the kitchen. She prided herself in cooking with home-grown foods.

“We were very self-sufficient,” she said. “We raised a big garden. We had a cow for milk. We cut the hay here to feed the animals …. We always raised beef and pigs and had our own freezers full of food.”

Mrs. Ricketts baked her husband his very first birthday cake. “He lived alone with his father and they ran a farm so he never had much family life,” she said.

Mrs. Ricketts made up for that, planning many family celebrations. Her family returned the favor in recent years. “Lora enjoyed a surprise 80th birthday party thrown by her family on Dec 31, 2017,” said Ms. Smith. “She loved gatherings with family and friends and was happy to attend a recent Richardson Family Reunion at Thacher Park arranged by her sister Patti.” 

Mrs. Ricketts was deeply invested in community groups including Eastern Star, the Berne Historical Society, and the East Berne Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary. “As a lifelong member, she loved showing her support by attending events such as the Easter and Mother'’ Day breakfasts,” said Ms. Smith. “The Christmas season highlight was bringing her grandchildren and then great-grandchildren to the Christmas Party to see Santa.

Mrs. Ricketts was also a poll worker for the Albany County Board of Elections and loved to talk to residents who came to vote, befriending many of them.

She also loved to travel with her family, including her sister, children, and grandchildren. Some trips were to a dude ranch in the Catskills and to Mohonk House in the Hudson Valley.

“She went to Niagara Falls with her husband, Ray so that he could ride on an airplane and be able to say he left the country as they went to the Canadian side,” said Ms. Smith. “Lora also enjoyed a cruise with Brandon and his family, and she loved the shows and fancy meals provided. At 82, Lora was happy to get a passport, and just before the world shut down from COVID, she went to Cozumel, Mexico, with some of the grandkids and great-grandkids.”

The pandemic shutdown was hard for Mrs. Ricketts because she was such a social person.

“To keep in touch with the community, Gram got a smartphone to access Facebook,” said Ms. Smith. “She loved having Facebook but never did master correct use. She ‘liked’ every picture every friend posted and frequently called people by mistake on Messenger and was always happy to tell us about the conversations after as many people answered and had wonderful conversations with her.”

To get out of the house during the pandemic, Mrs. Ricketts would go on errands with Ms. Smith. “Gram was often my co-pilot as she was nervous about entering the stores so, while I did the shopping, she was happy to sit in the car, and people watch. I would frequently come out of the market to find her having long conversations with friends and strangers who were now friends.”

In recent months, Mrs. Ricketts had severe pain due to osteoarthritis. “Gram was a strong, stubborn woman who refused to move in with her family,” said Ms. Smith. “She also refused to allow family or a caregiver to move in with her and did not want to leave her home. Multiple family members were actively engaged in her care and called and visited her daily.

“Despite multiple doctor appointments, her pain persisted, and the decreased mobility was wearing on Lora. However, she still attended important events, including cheerleader camp graduation for great-granddaughter Kate and recent Geezer concerts and meals out with friends and family. Recent pain control made it clear that, to be comfortable, she would need to be on medications that made her feel ‘loopy.’

“Gram always talked about how she wanted to have her mind, and it became apparent that to be pain-free, her mind would be altered. While we will miss her forever, we are at peace knowing that she is pain-free in heaven with her loved ones who went before her. 

“In recent months it became apparent that Gram felt her time on Earth was ending She always said she was ready to go as she lived a long life but was very worried about the transition to heaven as she is afraid of heights and was worried about being scared when she was able to look down on her loved ones that remained living.”

Ms. Smith concluded, “She had the faith God is good and she would see her loved ones again.”

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Lora Ricketts is survived by her daughter, Kathleen Carnevale, and Kathleen’s husband, Gary; by her grandchildren, Brandon Clark and Jennifer Smith, Kassi Martin, Miles Pangburn and Melissa, Danielle Ricketts, and Kyra Swan; by her great-grandchildren, Samson, Nichole, lain, Zoey, Madeline, Katherine, and Maxwell; and by many nieces, nephews, and close friends whom she considered family.

She is also survived by her sister Patti Sykala, and her sister’s husband, George; her sister Georgia Hallenback; her brother, Kenneth Richardson, and his wife, Mary; and by her sister-in-law, Betty Bates.

Her husband, Raymond Ricketts, died before her as did two of her children, Daniel Ricketts and Marcia Pangburn; her grandson, Derrick Clark; and her brother, Leonard Richardson.

A wake will be held on Sunday, Aug. 21, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Fredendall Funeral Home in Altamont.

Her funeral will be held on Monday, Aug. 22, at 10 a.m. at Thompson’s Lake Reformed Church at 1210 Thacher Park Road, East Berne, NY 12059.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Berne-Knox-Westerlo Parent Teacher Association, the East Berne Fire Company Ladies’ Auxiliary, or Helderberg Ambulance.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer