Wendy Lu Rickert

The world has lost an incredible soul. Wendy Lu Rickert (nee Schmidt), loving wife of Rory and devoted mother to Alec and Ethan, passed from this world at the age of 65 on August 21, 2025, following a 3+ year cancer journey. She passed unafraid, in the comfort of hospice and surrounded by family. She was the quintessential wife and mother, and over the course of her life, she accomplished many outstanding things, not the least of which were her two sons, both Eagle Scouts, successful in their careers, and caring members of the community. All of this is a direct reflection of what Wendy and Rory instilled in them.

Wendy was born on October 16, 1959, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Yes, that Green Bay. While being a Packers fan from birth, as is to be expected in the "Holy Land of professional football," Wendy was an accomplished athlete in her own right, playing tennis on Green Bay West Wildcat teams in the late 1970s and being a pioneer of women's soccer in Northeastern Wisconsin (and later, Minneapolis, Minnesota). It was very uncommon for young women to play the "beautiful game," which led Wendy to frequently join men's and co-ed teams that appreciated her innate abilities as assets to their clubs.

It was through these forays into soccer that Wendy came to know Rory, beginning a 48-year relationship that started at one of those infamous house parties in Green Bay, which occurred whenever parents decided to escape for a weekend and leave their high-school-age children in charge. What could go wrong? In this particular instance, their meeting was something that went very right. They always celebrated the anniversary of their first date, February 12, 1977, more than their wedding anniversary, (Do you remember?) "the 21st night of September" in 1985.

But I digress. Wendy attended Annie Jackson Elementary School, Franklin Junior High School, Green Bay West High School (class of 1978), the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire (I still don't know what their mascot, a Blugold, is), and finally the University of Minnesota, from which she graduated with a BS in Nutrition and Dietetics in 1984. It is notably ironic that Wendy's first significant career choice was with Taco Bell, where she progressed through a management training program and advanced to a District Manager role, the first female to do so in Minnesota, before it was time to stay at home with Alec, and then Ethan, when the family moved from Shoreview, Minnesota, to Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1994.

Wendy was also a very crafty person (and I don't mean that in a sly way), sewing and creating an incredible array of clothing, knick-knacks, and household decorations. Nearly every Halloween, she created amazing costumes, first for Rory and herself, and later incorporating the boys as well. Among the highlights were dressing Rory and her as Tinkerbell and Peter Pan, respectively (who knew Tinkerbell could pull off a beard?), and perhaps most famously, sewing kilts and tam o'shanters for her men to wear at an annual Thanksgiving family golf outing.

As the boys grew, Wendy became part of their scouting experience as they began in Cub Scouts and advanced through Webelos to Boy Scouts in a Pack and Troop that were each only a year or two old. Although she didn't do any of the work for her sons, she was diligent in guiding their individual pursuits of the rank of Eagle. In total, Wendy was active in the Grand Canyon Council for 12 years (the final two extending beyond her sons' tenure in scouting), starting with Pack 448 and ending with Troop 911, the latter of which saw her construct the framework of the troop from the ground up, designing leadership positions and training modules for adult volunteers. Through it all, she brought her tremendous organizational skills to both the local and regional levels. Other volunteer contributions of note include active supporting the boys in middle school band and high school marching band at Desert Mountain High School (harkening back to her own days playing the clarinet in high school), and all manner of support for a variety of Little League baseball, club baseball, and travel baseball organizations as Rory and the boys participated as players, coaches, umpires, and league executives. As always, her ability to organize, plan, and manage details was indispensable to the success of everything she became engaged with.

She eventually put her college degree to work in the family kitchen, cooking, baking, concocting snack mixes (that had an addictive chemical in them that made you crave them fortnightly), many of which became signature items depending upon the season. An invitation to Wendy's kitchen was always relished...

Wendy is survived by her husband, Rory, and sons Alec (Megan) and Ethan. She also leaves behind her mother, Joan Schmidt of Green Bay, siblings Jeff (Denise), Terri Seymour (Dave), Brad (Sheila), Stacey, and many other members of the Schmidt and Rickert clans in Wisconsin, Arizona, and throughout the United States. She was predeceased by her father, Howard, in 2022.

What is the sum total of a person's life on this earth? How do we measure whether one's time has been a success? Ralph Waldo Emerson once described individual success this way: "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."

By this definition, Wendy was a tremendous success in her life, and the legacy she leaves behind within and surrounding all who knew her, but especially her sons, Alec and Ethan, and her life-long friend, confidant, and husband, Rory, is unsurpassable. Everyone who encountered her during her lifetime is better for the experience.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Gainey Ranch Golf Club, 7600 E Gainey Club Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85258, on September 21st from 1-4 pm.