Gladys Ricken

Gladys M. Ricken, 74, of Haverhill, died Thursday evening, January 7, 2010 at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. Her funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, January 12, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Haverhill with Fr. Don Czapla officiating. She will be laid to rest in the Immaculate Conception Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4-7:00 p.m. Monday at St. Henry Catholic Church in Marshalltown with a vigil service and Rosary at 7:00 p.m. Memorials may be directed to the Immaculate Conception Oratory, the Arthritis Foundation, or Iowa River Hospice. For condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com. The Mitchell Family Funeral Home is caring for Gladys and her family. Ph 641-844-1234. Born Gladys Marie Kopel on December 19, 1935, in Marshalltown, she was the daughter of Raymond and Elsie (Stalzer) Kopel. She received her education at St. Mary Parochial School in Marshalltown and St. Joseph Parochial School in Haverhill and graduated from St. Marys High School in Marshalltown in 1954. After graduation she resided in Washington, D.C. where she was employed by the Department of the Navy. On June 18, 1956, Gladys was united in marriage to Leo Ricken at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Haverhill. They made their home on the farm northeast of Haverhill. She was employed at Marshalltown Community College beginning at the former uptown location and moving to the South Center Street campus from 1973 until her retirement in 1999. Gladys was a faithful member of the St. Henry-IC Parish, St. Henry CCW, a founding member of the St. Gerard Study Club, St. Monicas Society, Catholic Order of Foresters, American Legion Auxiliary, the MCC Retirees and Matts Chicks. Gladys was blessed with four children: Kathy (David) Minkel of Marshalltown, Jim (Lori) Ricken of Haverhill, Joe (Vicki) Ricken of Marshalltown, and Kristy (Rick) Wilkening of State Center; Eleven grandchildren: Kelli, Bethany, and Nathan Minkel; Brandon (Jessica) Ricken, Valerie (Jeremy) Corson, and Brian (Stephanie) Ricken; Erin, Stephanie, and Lindsey Ricken; and Savannah and Hunter Wilkening. Also surviving are her six great-grandchildren: Kody, Madison and Colton Ricken, Alexander Corson, and Kaden and Bennett Ricken; her brother Kenneth Kopel of Navarro, Texas; brother-in-law Lawrence (Marian) Ricken of Haverhill, sister-in-law Alice McBride of McKinney, Texas, and a host of aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. In death she has rejoined her husband, Leo, who died on November 8, 1980; her parents, Raymond and Elsie; father and mother-in-law Ben and Theresa Ricken; sisters-in-law Irene (Bob) Warden and Patricia (John) Jorgensen; brother-in-law Roy McBride, and John and Mary (Aunt Mamie) Walkup.