Sylvia Lee (Richards) Ketcher, 92, Harrisonville, Missouri, died Monday, September 9, 2013, surrounded by her family, at Crown Care Center in Harrisonville. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, September 13, 2013 at the Atkinson Funeral Home in Harrisonville with visitation from 1:00-2:00. Burial will be in Garden City Cemetery, Garden City, Missouri. Memorial contributions may be made to Heartland Baptist Fellowship, Harrisonville.
Sylvia was born November 27, 1920 in Narcissa, Oklahoma, the daughter of Alonzo and Bessie (Rhoten) Richards. She married Hubert C. Ketcher on July 20, 1936. To that union were born seven children: Joe D., Cynthia B., who died as an infant, Hubert E., Lonnie L., Dennis R., Barbara A. and Wanda J.
Sylvia was a member of Heartland Baptist Fellowship in Harrisonville and was blessed by her church family there. She was a devoted wife of 61 years and a loving mother and grandmother. One of her greatest joys was to have all her children come home to visit. Her children will always miss the love that was the main ingredient in delicious homemade breads, pies, chili and chicken and dumplings.
She was an artist who used her talent and creativity for many paintings given to family members; however she rarely kept one for herself. Throughout her life, she became an accomplished seamstress who lovingly created everything from her daughters’ wedding dresses to clothing for her grandchildren, hand stitched quilts and crocheted treasures. Being able to have flowers and a small vegetable garden were important to her and she continued gardening well past 80 years of age.
Sylvia loved her pets, especially her canine friends whom she enjoyed through the years of her life. She never wanted to turn away a homeless pet. This empathy for and enjoyment of pets provided her with many loving companions through the years.
Sylvia was preceded in death by her father, Alonzo, her brother, Bob, her mother, Bessie, her husband, Hubert and a grandson, Larry Paul Boucher. She is survived by her children, Joe Ketcher and wife, Ruth, Iola, Kansas, Hubert Ketcher and wife, Donna, Spring Hill, Kansas, Lonnie Ketcher, Dennis Ketcher, Barbara Boucher and husband, Larry, Peculiar, Missouri and Wanda Gourd and husband, Gary, Gardner, Kansas; 10 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild. She also leaves behind her sister, Alberta Mitchell and her family of Hennessey, Oklahoma; many nieces and nephews; many other friends at Crown Care Center in Harrisonville and her loyal friend, Shawn Ward of Harrisonville.
