It is with great sadness that I share the passing of Paul Edward Rickards, dear father, grandfather, and husband. He was what the nurses like to call a gentle giant. He passed away on July 30, 2025, at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri. He was 84 years old.
Paul was the second-born son of Joseph Francis Rickards and Lilly May Hilke, born on November 24, 1940, in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended many schools growing up, including Elgin Academy in Elgin, Illinois, graduating in 1959. He met the love of his life, Mildred Beatrice Swope, around that time while on a blind date. They were married on January 5, 1963, at Southwest Baptist Church in St. Louis, Missouri.
Paul enlisted in the military and served as a Private in the Army. He was stationed in Europe for a little over a year, visiting Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. Although he never saw any action, he was a Rifle M-1 Marksman. He was honorably discharged on March 28, 1968. After that, he was employed at the Army National Personnel Records Center off Page Avenue in St. Louis as a book binder for 35 years. He was actually working there during the time the records center caught fire, destroying the whole top floor. He retired in 2000.
He and his family were members of Southwest Baptist Church, where he was a Deacon for many years. He loved being active in the church, coaching youth sports such as softball and basketball, and leading youth group with his wife. He was also involved in many other activities. He sang in the choir, played fast pitch, organized a men's bowling team, and became the director/president of the whole area's men's Baptist bowling team.
Later on, the family became members of Rock Hill Baptist Church (now known as The Rock of St. Louis). He continued to coach many youth sports, including soccer and basketball. He and his family continued to attend church at Rock Hill until his health prohibited it.
Over the past few years, he was in and out of hospitals and rehab facilities. His health never really recovered, and he slowly started to decline. His wife, Millie, was always by his side, even until the end. He came down with pneumonia and other infections. Unfortunately, one of the antibiotics he was put on caused a horrible side effect of delirium, of which he never recovered. He passed on the morning of July 30.
I only knew Paul for a short time. I met him in 2002 when Mark and I started getting closer as friends, then started dating. I remember Paul introducing me to his mom, Lilly, as his son's friend. And Mark had to correct him and said, “Girlfriend, dad.” That's my first real memory of Paul. And I'm blessed to have known him and have him as my father-in-law for 23 years. The day before he passed, I held his hand and told him how blessed I was to have had him in my life, and I thanked him for giving me his son.
You are missed so much already, Paul.
Please give my dad a hug for me.
