Josephine "Jo" Elnora Ricks

Funeral Services for Josephine “Jo’ Elnora Ricks will be 9:30 a.m. Friday, August 25, 2023, at the Cherokee First Baptist Church with Rev. Brian Laramore and Rev. Billy Moore officiating. Interment will follow in the Alva Municipal Cemetery under the direction of Marshall Funeral Home of Alva. Josephine “Jo” Elnora Ricks, daughter of the late Everett William and Alta Marie (Prigmore) Hofen, was born January 14, 1941, on the family farm in rural Dacoma, Oklahoma, and passed away August 17, 2023, in Enid, Oklahoma, at the age of 82 years, 7 months, and 3 days. Jo was raised on the farm in rural Dacoma where she attended school and graduated from Dacoma High School in 1959 and then attended Northwestern State College. She married William “Bill” Ricks on December 14, 1969, at Pleasant View Pilgrim Holiness Church southwest of Dacoma. They moved to Cherokee where Jo worked for the United States Government in the Farm Service Agency for 45 years. She took great pride in her yard and spent many long hours working on it and her garden, growing tomatoes and strawberries. She enjoyed knitting, creating several outfits, painting and reading. Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, William “Bill” Ricks; her brother, Everett “Junior” William Hofen, Jr.; her sisters, Leveta Eldena Dotterer and husband, Nathan Earl, Elma Ilene Melton and husband, James; sister-in-law, Lynda Hofen; and brothers-in-law, Carroll Moore, Bill Murray, Willis Kramp, and Bill Hall; nieces and nephews, Danny Dotterer, Jimmy Melton, Mike Murray, Doug and wife Diane Hall, and Randy Hall. She is survived by her sisters, Geneva Delpha Moore, of Alva, Alvina Grace Murray, of rural Woods County, Evelyn Marie Kramp, of Alva, Everetta Pearl Hall, of Indianapolis, Indiana, and Alfreda Fern Reynolds and husband, J.D., of Cimarron, Kansas; her brothers, Henry Lee Hofen of Cherokee, and Max Eugene Hofen and wife, Linda, of Waynoka; sister-in-law, Jeanene Hofen; nieces and nephews, Arlene Burrow and husband Dallas, LouAnn Moore, Billy Moore and wife Donna, Nancy Greef and husband Tim, Beverly Murray and Dan Van Eimeren, Barb Derderian and husband Mark, Lindy Hinsman and husband Tom, Judy Keener, Peggy Broussard, Diana Stanley, Deborah Corr and husband Paul, Steven Kramp and wife Michelle, Kathy Lancaster and husband Joe, Janita Hofen, Jay Don Hofen and wife KariBeth, JoVonna Matthiesen and husband Gregg, Jeff Hofen and wife Sharon, Rick Hall, Stan Hall, Steve Hall, Linda Hall and Amber, Crystal Reynolds, Stephanie Nordhues, Chris Hofen, Amy Meek and husband David, Scott Hofen and wife Sherry, Mark and wife Reba Ricks; and other relatives and friends. Memorial contributions may be made through the funeral home to the Cherokee First Baptist Church of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) for Heart Disease. Remembrances may be shared with the family at www.marshallfuneralhomes.com.

Josephine "Jo" Elnora Ricks

January 14, 1941 - August 17, 2023