Mary Lou Ricketts, 78, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and formerly of West Liberty, Ohio, lost her courageous battle with cancer September 2, 2008. She  was born in Toledo, Ohio, on July 18, 1930, a daughter of the late Claude and Leone Lyman Mann. She also was preceded in death by a sister, Genevra Mann.

On April 19, 1949, she married Keith Ricketts in Indiana, and he survives, along with a daughter, Beverly Yoder of West Liberty; grandchildren, Alissa Yoder, Emily Yoder (Darren) Pedersen and Joel Yoder; a great-grandchild, Lillian Pedersen; a sister, Patricia Ann Miller; niece, LeAnn Mann; and a nephew, Gregory Durant.

A 1948 graduate of Bellefontaine High School, she worked at the family�s restaurant, The Checkered Bonnet, Logan Cleaners and retired from HBD in 1993. She attended the First United Methodist Church in Bellefontaine and was a member of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary Post 1080, American Legion Post 173 and the water aerobics class at the Hilliker YMCA.

Mary Lou will be remembered by her family and many friends for her generous spirit, her wonderful homemade pies and cookies, and for being a living wife and mother, a fun-loving grandma and doting great-gram.

Pastors Edward Beale and A.W. Purdin will conduct the graveside service at 11 a.m. Saturday, September 6, 2008, in the Fairview Cemetery, West Liberty, Ohio.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Universal Home Health & Hospice Care, Bellefontaine, and the First United Methodist Church.

Arrangements were handled by the Kauffman-Eichholtz Funeral Home in West Liberty, where condolences may be expressed at eichholtz@embarqmail.com