Mary Jane (Antone) Rickard

Mary Jane (Antone) Rickard was born January 30, 1935 in  Niagara Falls, New York.  She was the daughter of the late Oliver and Emerald (Greene) Antone.

She graduated from Niagara Falls High School in 1953 and was a member of the National Honor Society.   After graduation, she worked for the  Carborundum Company as a secretary in both the electro- minerals division and the bonded abrasives division. In her teens, she served on a junior advisory counsel for the construction of the Tuscarora elementary school.  She sang with the Tuscarora Girls Chorus which won many state and county competitions as a part of 4H.

In 1955, she married Melvin M. Rickard who passed away in 2018 after 62 years of marriage.

She was a member of the Ladies Fellowship Group of the Tuscarora Baptist Church where she also served in VBS. She served as President of the Tuscarora Parent Teacher Association. 

She studied piano and enjoyed music, especially gospel music and jazz. She enjoyed gardening, growing roses and African violets. She also loved entertaining and baking. She and her husband were bicycling enthusiasts, biking 26 miles 3 times a week.  In their younger years, she and her husband enjoyed hunting deer.  She volunteered in a  visitation/floral ministry with him for many years, representing the Tuscarora Baptist Church as they visited the sick in hospitals in the Niagara Falls/Buffalo area.

Mrs. Rickard is survived by 2 daughters, Wendy Jo (Earl) Burning, Kris Anne (Jeannie) Ricusso; 3 grandsons, Chad Knapp, Phillip Burning and Timothy Burning, 4 great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly.

Besides her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by 2 sisters, Myrna Antone, Geraldine (late James) Rickard, 2 brothers Gordon Antone and Richard Antone.

Visitation will be held on Monday, December 20 from  4-8 PM at RHONEY FUNERAL HOME,  5893 Hoover Rd, SANBORN, NY.

Family and friends are invited to celebrate a funeral service on  Tuesday, December 21 at 1:00 PM at Tuscarora Baptist Church, 2208 Mt. Hope Road, Sanborn, NY, with Rev. Walter A.  Printup III and Rev. Robert Dean officiating.

Interment to follow in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Lewiston, NY.

Visit www.rhoneyfuneralhome.com, for guest register.

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