Paul Mr. Ricketts

Norwood - Mr. Paul Wilson Ricketts, 75, formerly of Wadesboro, passed away on Tuesday morning, April 30, 2013 at Carolinas Medical Center Union with his beloved family by his side. Funeral services will be 2:00PM Saturday, May 4, 2013 at Mt. Beulah Baptist Church, Wadesboro, NC. Interment will follow in the church cemetery. The family will greet friends on Friday from 6:00 to 8:00PM at Leavitt Funeral Home. Mr. Ricketts was a native of Anson County and a veteran, serving from 1954 to 1964 as a U.S. Air Force troubleshooter for its worldwide communication system while stationed in Japan, Alaska, Iceland and England. After leaving the military, he returned to Wadesboro and launched Paul Ricketts Insurance in October 1965, beginning a 40-year association with State Farm Insurance. Throughout his business career, Paul was marked for his attention to customer service. He once invited a traveling college student involved in an auto accident to stay the holiday weekend with the Ricketts family. The student could not continue his journey until the car could be repaired. One winter when temperatures fell to around zero several customers called on Christmas morning to report frozen pipes. Paul spent a good part of that day inspecting homes and reassuring his customers. Paul was long active in local civic organizations and in preserving Anson County history. During the 1970s, he was often spotted late afternoons on a tractor grading land to build the Civitan Park (while still dressed in white shirt and tie). He was instrumental in acquiring and restoring the old Ansonia Theatre for the Anson County Arts Council and it became a labor of love for him. He served a number of terms on the boards of the Anson County Arts Council, the Anson County Historical Society and the Anson County Historic Properties Commission helping to establish a medical museum and the Tom Little farm museum. In the 1990s, Paul was a member of the Anson County Economic Development Commission and the Anson County Hospital Board of Trustees, serving as chairman of each. He was selected Anson County Small Business Person of the Year in 1997 and was awarded The Order of the Long Leaf Pine by the governor of North Carolina in 2005 for his many years of civic service. When relaxing, Paul could usually be found around water with family and friends, whether sailing a catamaran off Windy Hill beach, cruising Lake Tillery, or hosting the ever present entertainment and beach music on his pier. He also enjoyed a good round of golf, once mischievously challenging companions while playing a whole round with only a 7 iron tee to green (he won). Paul is survived by his wife, Audrey Spearman Ricketts; sons Alex Ricketts, of Norwood, NC; Scott Ricketts and Mary of Rockingham, NC; Stephen Ricketts and Jennifer of Wadesboro; Curtis Ricketts of Raleigh, NC; daughter Terri Ricketts Burris and Ronnie of Wadesboro; 6 grandchildren Keelie Burris Hill and Robbie, Ryan Burris and Kari, Jonathan Ricketts, Trevin Ricketts, Scottie Wayne Ricketts, Annalie Ricketts and 16 great grandchildren. He is also survived by sisters Betty Baldwin of Rockingham, NC; Carolyn Brewer, of Cordova, NC; brothers B.J. Ricketts and wife Doris of Wadesboro; and Earl Ricketts of Wadesboro; a stepsister, Shirley Harward of Polkton, NC; stepbrothers Leonard Honeycutt of Hampton, Virginia, and Richard Honeycutt of Wadesboro; longtime friends Dan and Eleanor Brooks and Joey and April Carpenter, all of Norwood. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Linda Gay Ricketts; his parents Evan Thomas Ricketts and Lila Freeman Ricketts; and his stepmother, Bertha Honeycutt Ricketts. Memorials may be made to the Ansonia Theatre in care of the Anson County Arts Council, PO Box 332, Wadesboro, NC 28170 or to the Anson County Historical Society, 206 E. Wade Street, Wadesboro, NC 28170. Leavitt Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Online codolences may be made at www.leavittfuneralhomewadesboro.com.