Alan Ricketts

Charles Alan Ricketts, 86, of Aledo, passed away Wednesday, October 7, 2015, at Aledo Rehabilitation and Health Care Center.

Visitation will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, at Bewley Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Aledo.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, October 12 at the funeral home, with Pastor Mark Harris officiating. Burial, with military honors, will be at the Aledo Cemetery. A gathering of family and friends will be held at the Aledo United Methodist Church following the service.

Memorials may be made to the Mercer County Humane Society or Walsh Terrace Group Home in Galesburg. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.bewleyfuneralhome.com.

Alan was born March 6, 1929, in Seaton, IL, the son of Charles Albert and Gladys Lucille Boruff Ricketts. He married Bonnie J. Bailey on January 3, 1954, in Aledo.

He was a 1947 graduate of Aledo High School; and Valedictorian of his class. He was a 1952 graduate of the University of Illinois with a Bachelors Degree in Agricultural Sciences.

He was a United States Army veteran of the Korean Conflict. He taught Government and English at La Harpe High School for a short time prior to service in the military. Alan then farmed in Millersburg Township for 41 years, retiring in 1994. He was later employed at Reiser-Trimble Funeral Home and Bewley Funeral Home and Cremation Services.

Survivors include his wife, Bonnie; sons, Charles William Ricketts of Galesburg and Todd Alan Ricketts of Hypoluxo, Florida; daughter, Lynn Anne (Jim) Childs of Aledo; grandchildren, Jason (Susan) Childs of Aledo, Lindsay (Brian) Fearman of Odell, Illinois, and Bailee Ricketts of Chicago; great grandchildren, Madi, Tiana, Haddie, and Tylie; step-great grandchildren, Joselyn and Ben; sister, Sandra (Rev. Robert) Peterson of Joliet; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, sister, Alyce Rose and brother-in-law Don Rose.