Susan Jane Rippen

Susan Jane (Siekert) Rippen of Mound City, Missouri, died at the age of 77 on September 4, 2024 in St. Joseph, MO following a brief illness.

Susan was born on August 2, 1947 in Chadron, Dawes County, Nebraska to John B. Siekert and Ardetta M. (Eastabrooks) Siekert.  She had a half-sister, Marilyn (Willer) Larsen.

Susan graduated from Chadron High School in 1965, where she played the flute in the marching band.  In Omaha, NE, Susan earned her cosmetology license and was a hairdresser for many years throughout her adult life.  She attended Chadron State College for two years, during which time she traveled to Denmark and Norway.  Susan was a bookkeeper for Cargill for several years.  She also worked as a hospital aide, a licensed assistant in an insurance office and front desk assistant with the local newspaper.

Susan was united in marriage on August 15, 1971 to Richard “Dick” Rippen at the United Methodist Church, Chadron, NE. During their 53 years of marriage, Susan and Dick resided in several Nebraska towns including North Platte, Brady, Bassett, Long Pine, Central City, Kearney, Aurora and Holdredge, as well as Lamar, Colorado and Elkhart, Kansas. In their retirement years, they enjoyed spending their winters in New Orleans, LA and Panama City Beach, FL. They made their home in Mound City, MO for 26 years.

Susan was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Order of the Eastern Star, Rebekahs, P.E.O., and was a life-long member of the  United Methodist  Church.  She actively volunteered in a variety of ways at the Mound City United Methodist Church.  After her family, Susan’s passion was genealogy.  She took several trips and did extensive research in her pursuit of family records which she then compiled into an extensive library.

She was preceded in death by her parents: John and Ardetta Siekert  (Chadron, NE) and her sister, Marilyn Larsen (Springview, NE).  Survivors include her husband, Dick Rippen, Mound City, MO, son, Matt Rippen (Anita), Argyle, TX, daughter, Kate Schaffert (Brian), Gardner, Kansas and five grandchildren: Jack and Will Schaffert, and McKenzie, Addie and Lenora Rippen.

Services: Friday, September 20, 2024, 11:00 am, Mound City United Methodist Church. Family will greet friends beginning at 10:00 am. Private family inurnment: Mount Hope Cemetery.  Memorials may be made in her memory to the United Methodist Women, 312 East 7th Street, Mound City, MO 64470.