Dr. Annette Rickel

Dr. Annette Urso Rickel passed away peacefully on Sunday, November 21, 2021 in the presence of her loving husband John Leone after a long illness.

Annette was born to the late Ralph Urso and the late Marguerite Calcaterra Urso on April 6, 1941 in Detroit, Michigan. The family moved to Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan where Annette attended St. Paul's, graduating from the high school in 1959. She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree and taught elementary school in the Grosse Pointe Public School System before enrolling at the University of Michigan where she earned her Ph.D. in Psychology.

Dr. Annette Urso Rickel was a psychotherapist and faculty member at Cornell Medical College. She served as Education Programs Officer for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. There she was responsible for the Fund's Fellowship Program for Students of Color as well as grantmaking for other educational priorities. Before assuming this position, she was a clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University.

Throughout her career, she worked with children and families, and directed research on early interventions. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health as well as the MacArthur and Kellogg Foundations. In 1992, she was awarded a Senior Congressional Fellowship and served as a member of the public policy staff of U.S. Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. At the same time, she was appointed to President Clinton's Task Force for National Health Care Reform.

Prior to her experience in Washington, D. C., Dr. Rickel was a professor in Michigan, and the director of two long-term projects involving the Detroit Public School System – one focusing on interventions with young children and the other on teenage parenting. She held visiting professor appointments at Princeton University and Columbia University. She was a Board Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., Reading is Fundamental, the Children's Center and the Women's Forum. Dr. Rickel published eight books and numerous articles in scientific journals. She was a Founding Member of the Board of Directors of Kevin's Song, a nonprofit organization dedicated to suicide prevention.

In 1999 Dr. Rickel established the Annette Urso Rickel Foundation. The foundation provides educational scholarships and grants in STEM education to students and teachers for educational opportunities and the development of school programs where there is a need. Her work and dedication to her foundation, as well as to her many other accomplishments, had and will continue to have an impact on the lives of many.

Annette is survived by her husband John Leone, son Jay (Patrick) Rickel-Finnegan, stepchildren Christina Fink, Hadley Kimberlin, Allison Schatz, Susan Ann Leone, Elizabeth Almer, and Jennifer Slayton, brother John (Gail Maitland) Urso, nephews Brian Urso and Justin (Carolyn Judson) Urso and great niece and nephew Evelyn and Judson Urso. She was preceded in death by her former husband Peter Fink and nephew Kevin Urso.

Visitation for Dr. Rickel will take place on Friday, December 3, 2021, from 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM at Chas. Verheyden, Inc., 16300 Mack Ave., Grosse Pointe Park, MI 48230. She will lie in state on Saturday, December 4, 2021, from 11:30 AM until the time of her Funeral Mass at 12:00 Noon at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church, 157 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in her honor to Kevin's Song, www.KevinsSong.org, 21 Kercheval Ave., Suite 345, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236 or The Pope Francis Center, https://popefranciscenter.org, 438 St. Antoine St., Detroit, MI 48226.

Please share memories at Verheyden.org.