Spring 2003 Updates on
Mary Beth's
Journey
Links to other pages: Home / Pictures / Mary Beth's Obituary
Mary Beth's Angels Foundation held a successful event over the weekend by hosting the 1st Annual Continental Pheasant Hunt in Old Monroe, MO. Our thanks to all the participants and to Chris Mower for organizing this event which raised about $1,800 for the foundation's causes of assisting underprivileged children. One of the latest deeds the foundation has performed is providing $2,500 in funding to Wings, the BJC Pediatric Hospice program, for the benefit of two families they are serving. One family has a terminally ill child and is in jeopardy of losing their home due to the inability to make mortgage payments. The other family are residents of another state and are renting an apartment in St Louis awaiting a heart transplant for their child. They have exhausted their funding during their stay away from home and are in need of apartment rental payments. Thanks to all of you have supported the foundation, these two families may focus on the most important aspect of their lives, their children. God bless, Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a talk at St Joseph's Academy in which a very special speaker shared her thoughts on life. This young lady had a smile on her face throughout the entire time she was addressing the girls of St Joe. As an alumnae of the school she could relate to many of the experiences of her audience. However, she has had life altering experiences which are very foreign to many. Rachel Baumgartner shared her story about her affliction with cancer and how she deals with it. Her outlook on life is very optimistic and positive. She truly is an inspiration to countless people from her close friends to complete strangers. Please keep Rachel in your prayers for a miraculous cure. God bless, As we prepare for our Lenten journey on this Mardi Gras, we are again reminded of just how fragile our lives are. We learned today that our friend Linda Lamkin has been diagnosed with colon cancer and will be undergoing surgery tomorrow morning. Linda is a caring, fun loving devoted wife and mother. Please keep her in your prayers for a successful operation and full recovery. We ask that you also remember Walter, Killian, Katie, Gibson, Russell and Linda's entire extended family in your prayers so they may receive our Lord's comfort during these challenging times. God bless, Thank you for your continued prayers for our friend Linda Lamkin. She is recuperating from a successful surgery and rebuilding strength for upcoming chemotherapy treatments. We appreciate your continued prayers for Linda and her entire family through this process. We also ask for your prayers for our friend Archbishop Justin Rigali, who announced today that he has prostate cancer and will be undergoing surgery next week. We pray for his healing and complete recovery. God bless, Hi my name is Jenni Bence and I am a sophomore at the University of Kansas. On May 2-3 I have committed to running the Relay for Life here at KU. From 6 pm - 6 am (12 hours straight!), I will be running to raise money for the American Cancer Society. I have chosen to run in honor of my friend Rachel Baumgartner, a former KU student, and in memory of Mary Beth Ricken. If you or anyone you know would like to sponsor me in this fight against cancer, please send a donation! Anything over $10 is tax deductible and all donations go directly to the American Cancer Society. You can send checks made payable to the American Cancer Society to me at: Jenni Bence 927
Emery Rd #103A Lawrence,
KS 66044 Also, the
stadium will be filled with luminary bags in honor and memory of
those fighting cancer. A
separate donation of $10 can also be made to purchase one of these
to be placed in the stadium which will burn all night in honor of
someone special to you. A
separate check must be written for this and please specify the
person’s name and whether it is in honor of or memory of that
person. Thank you so
much for making a difference in the fight against cancer.
If you are unable to make a donation, please set aside a
special time on this night to say a prayer for all those battling
cancer, especially Rachel and our angel Mary Beth. All donations
must be received by April 25th!
Thank you so much for your help and prayers and if you’d
like to contact me, you can email me at jbence@ku.edu
or feel free to write or call me at 785-979-3535! God Bless! We ask for your continued prayers for our friends Linda Lamkin, Rachel Baumgartner and Archbishop Rigali and ask you to join us in adding another friend, Kris Wolf, to our prayers. On Monday, Kris was informed that she has breast cancer and will be undergoing surgery as early as next week. Kris, Brad and their children live in the greater Minneapolis area and are confident and peaceful with what lies ahead. Kris' mother is a 40 year survivor of this disease and Brad's mother was taken 20 years ago by it so they have experienced its affects, positive and negative, first hand. They have humbly asked for our prayers for the medical team, a complete cure, strength and comfort for Kris, and that they would be more conformed to the character of Christ through this trial. We also ask you for prayers for the entire family as they experience the challenges of the coming days, weeks and months. God bless, Last Saturday we enjoyed the company of some 300 friends and relatives at Uncle Gerry and Aunt Sheila's 16th Annual Easter Egg Hunt. This event is one of our favorites during the year because we have the opportunity to share the joy of Christ's Resurrection with so many people in such a festive manner. It is always great to see the faces of anticipation of the participants in finding the Easter eggs. This year 150+ kids found 2,700 eggs hidden in neighboring lawns. We realized we had been hosting this event for some time when we assigned Mike Gelpi the task of handing out the prizes. Mike is a sophomore at St Louis U and was a four-year old as one of the six kids in our backyard in Kansas City who attended the 1st Annual. Time truly does fly when you are having fun! We wish you peace, joy, health and happiness during this Holy Week. God bless, It is always nice to spend time with family during the holidays and this weekend was no exception as we celebrated Easter with the extended Ricken family in Garden Plain, KS. As we continue to celebrate renewed hope in our Lord's Resurrection, we ask for your prayers for recovery and restored health for Mark Strout. Mark is a senior at Priory High School and received a heart transplant today. We ask for your prayers for him, his parents Joe and Ann, and his sister Megan as they face the challenges of Mark's renewed lease on life. We also ask you to remember the donor and the donor's family in your prayers of thanksgiving. God bless, Home / Top of page / MB's Obituary / January - 03
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The
following page contains updates regarding Mary Beth's Journey for
Spring of 2003.
If
you wish to contact Mary Beth's family, you may do so through