John Michél Rickey ... Age 64

Cremation
Visitation 6-8 pm Friday, May 18, 2018 at the Eddy-Birchard Funeral Home
Memorials are to Prairie Paws and may be sent c/o:
Eddy-Birchard Funeral Home P.O. Box 403 Osawatomie, KS 66064

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John Michél Rickey, 64, of Osawatomie, Kansas died Friday, May 11, 2018 at Olathe Hospice House in Olathe, Kansas.

John was born on July 11, 1953 in Kansas City, Missouri to Oren Lee and Jacqueline Charlotte Rickey. He attended school and grew up in Odessa, Missouri graduating with the Odessa High School class of 1971.  Not long after high school, as fate would have it, John met Lisa Janet Cross.  They were married February 20, 1972 in Wyandotte County, Kansas.  This was the beginning of a 46 year love story.  John and Lisa were blessed with a son in 1980, Thomas Lee Rickey.  They made their home in Bonner Springs, Kansas for 24 years.

John was a jack of all trades, an achiever at life.  He came by things very naturally, but was humble and loving to his core.  He worked many jobs over his lifetime including:  cutting meat as a butcher’s assistant, asbestos inspector, drove a road paver laying fresh asphalt, and drove over-the-road trucks delivering freight all over the country for several companies including Trans-Am and Schneider Trucking.  He loved working with computers and landed a job in Johnson County, Kansas as a cost analyst for Johnson County, KS Public Works office, where he worked until becoming disabled and retiring in 2016.  John absolutely loved working for the Public Works office and enjoyed everyone he worked with over the years.

In 2004, John and Lisa bought their 20 acre farm in Franklin County, Kansas, rural Osawatomie, where they enjoyed years of tending to the land and all the livestock that came and went.  John and Lisa enjoyed going to livestock auctions and bringing home goats and chickens.  John enjoyed the horses but he was most passionate about his goats. There were a few special dogs that became part of their family too!  When he wasn’t tending to the animals or the land he was fishing or reading a science fiction novel. They lived on the farm, their slice of paradise, until September of 2017, when Lisa and John moved to the city of Osawatomie.

John was preceded in death by his parents.

Survivors include his wife Lisa of the home, one son, Thomas (Sheri Leeann) Rickey of Osawatomie, step-mom, Sandy Rickey of Odessa, MO, brother Kenneth (Jannell) Rickey of Liberty, MO, sister Janet Rickey of Ohio.  Five grandchildren:  Caden Lee Rickey, Kaleb Michél Rickey, Jazlynn Karisma Cloninger, Kaylee Jade Rickey, Dallas David Joseph Rickey and one great grandchild, Hensley Leeann Olin along with many other family and friends.  And last, but not least, his loyal companion Max the American Bulldog.