11/09/45-09-24-24

Today we are gathered to celebrate and honor the life of Rita DeeAnn Silcox. Rita touched the hearts of many of the people she met and the friends she gathered along the way. Rita's kindness and desire to care for others was apparent to those she assisted over the years and to those for whom she prepared so many delicious meals.

Rita was born November 9th, 1945, in Liberal, Kansas to parents Gladden and Ethel Scott. She was the third child and the first daughter for Gladden and Ethel. Rita joined older brothers Carl and Verlin, 15 and 10 years her senior. 4 years later, Rita met her little sister, who later would become her best friend, Linda. Rita's siblings and father rarely called her by her name; instead, she was lovingly known as "Sissy."

Rita attended Walsh schools and graduated high school in 1963. Rita spent most of her 78 years in Walsh and told many "there is not a better place to be than right here."

Rita held a variety of jobs in the community over the decades including working for Dapron's café, The GEM Theatre, Schooley's Grocery store, and 22 years at City Market. Her most memorable jobs, however, were providing home care for others in the community, cooking, and helping at Holt Manors.

In 1976, Rita became a single mother to 3 children. Rita and her sister Linda cared for and raised their children closely with the help of their mother Ethel.

Rita worked hard most of her life, to provide for her three children as a single mother and then later for herself. She was still working just prior to the onset of pneumonia. Her life was not easy, nor did it ever become easy.

Rita started battling pneumonia in May of 2024. In August she left Baca County for the last time and was hospitalized in Colorado Springs where she was later diagnosed with lung cancer. Rita succumbed to her illnesses on September 24th and her wish to "go home" was in a sense granted.

Rita is preceded in death by her parents Gladden and Ethel Scott, brothers Carl (LaDean) Scott and Verlin (Laura) Scott, and best friend and sister Linda Caldwell.

Left to mourn are Rita's children Teresa Silcox, Troy Silcox, and Missy Stoner; grandchildren Hannah Sterling and Riley Stoner; and nephews and nieces Dusty Caldwell, David Scott, Tammy Scott, Kathy, Dennis and Susan Scott.