Arthur W Ricks

Arthur "Art" William Ricks, 81, passed away on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 of incident to age causes.

Art was born to David Lester Ricks and Rose Catherine (Tolman) Ricks on June 26, 1934, in Buhl, Idaho. As the story goes, Arts mother was in the field thrashing hay with a team of horses took the team to the barn and went to the house. Art was born later that day. Because he was so tiny, and blue, the country doc and midwife placed him in the oven to warm him up. He often said he was as close to hell that day as he ever wanted to be in the wood fired oven. Art's mother always maintained he was born on the 27th of June, but due to the great distance the doctor had traveled and how tired he (Doc) was, an error was made when the birth certificate was filled out showing the birth date as June 26th. Arts birthday was always celebrated on the 27th of June until he retired. Then due to issue with retirement paperwork he went back to June 26th as the official date.

Art attended Pocatello High School graduating in 1952. He served in the Army, NGUS, Nov. 9, 1955 - Nov. 8, 1958, as a Tank Commander with the 131. He worked for the city of Pocatello as a plumber for several years and then ventured into construction and road building working for several general contractors throughout Idaho.
On April 6, 1970 he married the love of his life Dorothy Lorraine Harmon.
In 1980 Art and Dorothy moved to Weiser Idaho where Art taught Teamsters truck driving skills through the International Teamsters Union. In the winter of 1982, they moved back to Pocatello where he returned to construction until retirement. Art was a dues paying member of Teamsters Local 983 in Pocatello, for 34 years retiring in 1990. He was a member of the Pocatello Elks Lodge 674 for over 29 years.

Art was a man of many talents and likes, from hunting, fishing, building/remodeling, racing and trained quarter horses at race tracks in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Art enjoyed playing his guitar and singing and jokes. He often sang on stage with favorite bands throughout East Idaho in his younger years.
He also enjoyed boating, 4-wheeling, playing cards and generally enjoying life, including plans to bag another deer or antelope this coming fall after bagging both at 80 years old .

Art is survived by his wife, Dorothy; their son, Shawn Arthur, (Rosalie) Ricks; and from a previous marriage to Roseanne Parr, two sons, William A., (Janet) Chase, David R., (Brenda) Chase, and three daughters, Debra L. Taylor, Cheryl A Koster, Cathy L., (Paul) Turk; 21 grandchildren; 42 great-grandchildren; sisters, Verla, (Joe) Laughridge, and Marian, (Luther) Robinson. Nephews, Carl Harvey, (Leona)Smith, Nieces, Pat Smith, Suzy Coulter, He is preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Shirley, (Jack) Menard and four brothers, Wiley Smith, Elmer Smith, Melvin Smith and Carl Smith Sr..

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday, April 16, 2016 at Wilks Funeral Home, 211 W. Chubbuck Road. Condolences and memories may be made to the family under the "Share a Memory" tab on this page.