LELA RUTH WILCOX, 98, of Wichita, Kansas, entered into the presence of her Savior on October 19, 2025.

RUTH was born March 5, 1927, in Campbell Hill, rural Jackson County, southern Illinois, to Herbert Lyman Hanna and Lela Pearl (Schupbach) Hanna. The eldest of four children, she attended school in southern Illinois and graduated from Sparta Township High School in 1945.

Following graduation, RUTH served as an accountant for the Randolph Locker Service in Sparta, Illinois, for one year before attending Sterling College, Sterling, Kansas. She graduated in May 1950 with a B.A. in Home Economics and dual teaching certificates in both elementary and secondary education.

On August 17, 1950, RUTH married her college sweetheart, Edward Wilcox of New Castle, Pennsylvania, in the Trinity Presbyterian Church, Sparta, Illinois.

RUTH taught school for a total of 25 years in Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, before retiring in 1987. She was a pastor's wife, a homemaker, a devoted mother / grandmother / great-grandmother, and an educator. In the 1960s she followed her husband, a Navy chaplain, to live near his duty stations in North Carolina, and in Treasure Island and San Diego, California. In 1989, RUTH and Ed retired to Loveland, Colorado.

RUTH was an active member of the Mt. View Presbyterian Church, Loveland, where she served as both an elder and a deacon. She volunteered at the church, at the local House of Neighborly Service, and for the Thompson R2J School District for 20 years. Ruth served on the family selection committee of the Loveland Habitat for Humanity for 20 years and enjoyed working on the various building sites. She and Ed loved to go "up the hill" to Estes Park to enjoy Rocky Mountain National Park year 'round but especially in the autumn to see the Aspen turn and hear the elk bugle.

RUTH was a lifelong learner. She enjoyed the hobbies of sewing, cooking, gardening, and reading. Watching her grandchildren participate in school sports took her on many trips to Kansas. Her life centered around her church and her family.

RUTH is survived by a daughter, Colette Ann Thomas, and a son-in-law, Jerry Lee Thomas, of Bloomington, Indiana; a daughter-in-law, Peggy Wilcox, of Niotaze, Kansas; four grandchildren, Katelyn Joy Thomas, Bloomington, Indiana; Hilary Leigh Island-Thomas, Twenty-Nine Palms, California; Tanner Wyatt Wilcox, Wichita, Kansas; Victoria Katherine Wilcox, of Galveston, Texas; seven great grandchildren; one sister, Florence Elaine (Hanna) Hill, Dodge City, Kansas; and a niece and five nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 51 years, Edward, in 2001; her son, Brian Linn Wilcox, in 2021; her brothers, Robert Lyman Hanna and Allen Eugene Hanna; her brother-in-law, Ollie G. Hill; two sisters-in-law, Grace Pearl (Caldwell) Hanna, and Ann Louise (Phillips) Hanna, and her parents, H. Lyman & Lela (Schupbach) Hanna.

A service for the family and friends and interment will be held in Loveland, Colorado.

Memorial contributions may be made to Sterling College, 125 W. Cooper, Sterling, Kansas

67579.