Keith Ricks

Keith Hallstrom Ricks

Keith Hallstrom Ricks, age 82, loving husband, father of five, grandfather of fifteen and great-grandfather of five, passed away peacefully at his home in Kaysville, UT on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. Keith was born on January 13, 1938 in Rexburg, Idaho to Leland Nephi Ricks and Ella Fay Hallstrom. He was a 1956 graduate of Madison High School and attended Ricks College for two years before joining the Air Force. He received his BS from the University of Nebraska Omaha in 1964. Keith met the love of his life, Florence Fern Hadsall in Enid, OK where he graduated from Pilot Training. They were married on July 3, 1960 in Wichita, Kansas and were sealed for eternity in the Idaho Falls Temple on October 6, 1964.

When he was a boy, Keith’s father owned a gas station located next to their home in Rexburg, ID. Keith participated in the family business, selling earthworms which he dug up from his yard, to fishermen at the gas station. In the summertime he expanded the earthworm business by selling them to fishermen on Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone National Park. He loved the outdoors and especially loved the Teton Mountain Range.

When Keith joined the United States Air Force he became a helicopter pilot in the Air Rescue Service (ARS), a division of the Air Force that was primarily focused on combat search and rescue. He was a hero many times over in the Vietnam War, and also piloted many civilian rescue and recovery missions all over the country. He lived by the credo of the Air Rescue Angel, “These things we do, that others may live.” In 1971 Keith became a helicopter flight instructor and spent thousands of hours training others to fly. He was eventually grounded due to complications from an injury he had suffered playing volleyball in Vietnam, and went back to school to study electronics. After finishing his 20 years in the Air Force, he retired in 1979 as a Lt. Colonel.

In 1980, Keith began a new career with AT&T as an electronic technician. His favorite responsibility was flying “shotgun” in the small single engine airplane during monthly maintenance checks of the fiber optic cables in the Utah desert. He worked for AT&T for 12 years before retiring in 1992.

As an Air Force family, Keith was stationed in many places all over the United States, including Kansas, Texas, California, Nevada, Washington, Georgia, and Utah. They also lived in Canada and Iceland. Once he retired, they bought an acre of land in Hooper, Utah and built their dream home. They lived there for 30 years, and he enjoyed tending to his small fruit orchard and vegetable garden on their property. While living in Hooper, Keith served as the Stake Executive Secretary for 15 years to three different Stake Presidents in the Hooper Utah Stake. Keith and Florence loved their time in Hooper and the many friends they made there over the years.

In 2009, Keith and Flo sold their Hooper home and moved to Kaysville, UT where they were closer to family. Keith took up genealogy and spent much of his time indexing. Over the course of several years, he indexed thousands of names. His family often commented on how he was watched over by the angels he did genealogy for.

Keith’s mind eventually began to fog and dementia set in. In his final years his body weakened, and doing simple physical tasks became overwhelming. However, one of his very best days was when he received his motorized wheelchair. This gave him freedom back as he puttered around the house and was once again able to do things for himself. He amazed his caregivers by how well he was able to perfectly maneuver his wheelchair from the very first moment he received it. His pilot experience manifested itself even through his progressive dementia.

Keith had a dry sense of humor, and he absolutely loved it when someone DIDN’T get his joke. His favorite joke to play was when someone would ask him if he heard a sound and he would say, “What?” This would go on and on until they finally realized they were being teased. He loved that.

Keith is survived by his sweetheart of 60 years, Florence Fern Hadsall; one son Kevin (Jacolyn), and four daughters; Julie (Kyle) Palmer, Sue (Jim) Alvey, Linda (Ken) Sorensen, and Debra (Rick) Hansen, 15 grandchildren; Danny, Dallin, Tiffany, Brooke, Candra, Kaitlyn, Kyle, Shane, Maddie, Acacia, Livy, Kara, Dustin, Zac, and Aria, five great-grandchildren: Kiah, Noah, Rory, Gideon and Jean.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his baby brother who lived only 5 ½ months, Kenneth Jerald Ricks.

The family wishes to thank Keith’s dedicated Kaysville Home Teachers who truly ministered as the Savior did; Wayne Belleau and Ward Johnson. They would also like to thank his Kaysville 17th Ward for their support of meals and visits during these past six difficult months. His Hospice nurses Donette and Sharla were also a huge blessing as they tenderly cared for him in his final weeks.

Funeral Services will be held on Friday, March 20 at 11a.m. at Lindquist’s Kaysville Mortuary, 400 Main Street, Kaysville UT. Friends may visit with family from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. at the mortuary.  Interment, Kaysville City Cemetery.

“These things we do, that others may live.”