LaDell Stonecipher

1940 - 2025

LaDell R. Stonecipher, 85, of Thousand Oaks, California, passed away on November 29, 2025, from Alzheimer's disease.

LaDell Rae Routh was born on November 5, 1940, in Hastings, Nebraska, to Curtiss W. and Magdelyn (Einspahr) Routh of Minden, the first of four children. She graduated from Chappell High School and later returned to college in 1970 to earn her BA in Art from Hastings College, followed by a BFA in Painting from the University of Kansas.

She married Charles L. Stonecipher in 1960; they divorced in 1983. Together they had two sons, Brian and Scott.

For 27 years LaDell taught art-teaching public school students in Doniphan (K-12, 1973-1976); Hastings (Senior High School; 1976-1979), and Carter Lake and Crescent, Iowa (Elementary Schools, 1996-1998). From 1984 to 2000, she served as a Nebraska Arts Council Artist-in-Residence at 41 schools throughout Nebraska, with residencies in a variety of environments-from one-room country schools to urban schools in Lincoln and Omaha. She was at her best teaching children to see the world in a different way, getting them excited about creating, and encouraging and helping them express themselves in visual art.

LaDell lived for art-it was her passion. Her watercolor, acrylic, and oil paintings were exhibited in numerous juried exhibitions throughout the Midwest and are in private and corporate collections nationwide. She had art studios in Hastings and at the Burkholder Project in Lincoln in the 1980's and 90's.

In 1993, LaDell began a rewarding second career as a sorority house mother, serving as "mom" to hundreds of young college women for over 24 years. She was a house mother at Delta Gamma at the University of Nebraska (1993-2001), Delta Gamma at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California (2001-2013), Sigma Kappa at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas (2013- 2016), and Delta Zeta at Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln (2016-2017). She retired in 2017 and moved to Southern California to be near her sons.

LaDell was a long-time member of Lutheran churches throughout her life.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

Survivors include her sons, Brian Stonecipher and his wife Alexa Beutler of Newbury Park, California, and Scott Stonecipher and his wife Judi (Osaka) of El Segundo, California; grandchildren Chloe and Lillie Stonecipher of El Segundo, Willa Stonecipher of Cambridge, Massachusetts; siblings Larry and Caroline Routh of Lincoln, LuAnn and Bobby Wiskera of Highland Village, Texas, and Lanae Routh of Denton Texas; and five nieces and nephews.

An informal gathering to remember LaDell will take place in Lincoln at a later date.

In lieu of gifts or flowers, the family invites you to honor LaDell's memory by visiting an art studio or art fair, meeting an artist, and purchasing an art piece that you really like-a painting, sculpture, jewelry, or print-to take home and enjoy while thinking of her.