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Suzanne Wicks Obituary
Suzanne R. Potter Wicks, 99, of Lebanon, Ill., born Jan. 8, 1911, in Red Granite, Wis., died Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010, at Cedar Ridge Healthcare Center, Lebanon, Ill.
Susie received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from McKendree College in 1945 and a master's degree from Washington University in 1951. She took advanced graduate courses from a number of schools. During the war, she taught radio fundamentals to airmen at Scott Air Force Base. She taught biology, chemistry and physics at Lebanon High School until retirement in 1976. She was inducted into the Science Hall of Fame at McKendree College and the Hall of Fame at Lebanon High School. Susie also taught part time at McKendree for a number of years. After retiring from teaching she worked on federal research grants in the field of bacteriology and isotope geochemistry until she was 80 years old. Suzie was born a Quaker and was both a member of the St. Louis Society of Friends Church and a member of the Lebanon First United Methodist Church.
She was preceded in death by her first husband, Paul M. Potter whom she married in 1929 and who died in 1950; her second husband, Lester F. Wicks, Ph.D., whom she married in 1956, and who died in 1970; a daughter, Frances P. Myers; parents, Eldo T. Ridgway M.D., and Leona, nee Hillis, Ridgway; sisters, Mary Jane Ridgway and Elizabeth Schmidt; and a brother, John Ridgway.
Surviving are her daughter, Anne (William) Wright; grandchildren, Cynthia (William) Shaw of Collinsville, Ill., Jayne Wright (Matthew) Rigney of St. Louis, Mo., and Thomas (Jacqueline) Wright of Overland, Mo.; great-granddaughter, Michelle (Todd) Higginbotham of Springfield, Ill.; great-great-granddaughter, Alicia; stepchildren, Erin, Kyle and Emily Higginbotham; and her sister, Jean Schendel of Charlottsville, Va.
The family appreciates the staff of Cedar Ridge Healthcare and Passages Hospice for their professional care and support.
Memorials may be made to Lebanon Education Scholarship Fund or McKendree University.
Funeral: There will be a private family memorial at a later date. Mrs. Wicks has donated her body to Washington University School of Medicine.
MEYER
FUNERAL HOME,
Lebanon, Ill.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
3 Entries
Mary Mason Giles
January 16, 2010
Those who are fortunate have had the benefit of at least one teacher who encouraged them and made them aware of life's options. Mrs. Wicks, a remarkable and talented woman, excelled at doing that for many years. I'm very grateful to have known her.
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January 16, 2010
Dear Anne and family,
I am very sorry to hear of Suzie's passing. She lived a very full life of amazing adventures and enjoyed every minute. She especially loved telling of these adventures and remembered every little detail of the jobs and explorations. You should be very proud of everything in life that she accomplished. She was a very exceptional woman and loved and appreciated life and everyone in it especially her family. Suzie will always hold a special place in my heart and I have so many fond memories of the times we spent together.
Sadly missing Suzie....Mary Weil
steven wolf
January 16, 2010
It is with great sadness to hear of the passing of Mrs. Wicks. No obits can sum up all that she has done for the students she had taught over her tenure at LHS. There was no one more wiser or had more passion then she did in her field of study. She will never be forgotten by all that loved her.
Steven Wolf Class of "74"
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