Franklin David Rickard was born September 4, 1929, to Homer and Mabel Rickard in Chester, West Virginia, and passed from this life January 27, 2004. He graduated from Chester High School in 1947 and served his country in the U.S. Airforce (1947-1951) as a hydrolics technician and helped reopen Shepard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. He graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 1957 and started teaching in Bokchito, Oklahoma from 1957-1965. He moved to Waurika in 1965, and taught there until he retired in 1986. He and Cleta Joyce Huskey were married on February 24, 1951 in Ryan, Oklahoma. They had one son, Franklin David Rickard , Jr.,,, in 1954. Cleta preceded him in death in 1994. On October 24, 1996 he married Wilma Joye Black in Waurika, Oklahoma.

Survivors include: his wife Wilma Rickard of Waurika, OK; two sons - Dave and Brenda Rickard of Ardmore, OK, and Chad and Miranda Black of Waurika. OK; one daughter - Ferliece and Hank Latta of Waurika, OK; one sister - Mary Berkey of San Antonio, TX; his grandchildren - Matt Orr of Mead , OK, Casey Orr of Biloxi, MS, Justin, Zachary, Blake and Hayden Latta of Waurika, OK, Gatlin Black of Waurika, OK, Taylor Croxton of Waurika, OK, and Cole Lewis of Azle , TX; his siblings and their spouses - Claude and Mary Nichols of Bethany, OK, Jo Stonebreaker of Waurika, OK, Dicie Ryan of Hereford , TX, Louise Huskey of Society Hill, AL, Relice Wynn of Oklahoma City, OK, John Michel of Waurika, OK, Gerald and Debbie Black of Duncan, OK, Betty and Johnny Johnson of Grandberry, TX, and Lewis F. Wright of Hobbs , NM; numerous nieces and nephews; and a host of friends and ex-students.

Frank was preceded in death by his father Homer Rickard in 1949, his mother Mabel Lorenz in 1977, his sister Betty Plance in 1995, his wife Cleta in 1994, his brother-in-law Danny Wright in 2001, and his mother-in-law Espea Wright in 2003.

Funeral services for Mr. Rickard were at 2:00 PM, Friday , January 30, 2004, at the First Baptist Church of Waurika with Noel Curington, David Gordon, Ken Coleman and Kelly Martin officiating. Burial was in the Ryan Cemetery under the direction of Dudley Funeral Home of Waurika. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to Jefferson County Hospital.