Clara Ricketts of Kane, Pa. was a described as a “woman who loved children – but never had any of her own.” The Clara Ricketts Fund perpetuates her legacy of love for children decades after her death in 1957.
Ricketts was a representative of the Equitable Life Assurance Company in Kane for many years before retiring. She was involved in the community through her church and other clubs. Ricketts was a member of the Women’s Society of Christian Service at First Methodist Church and taught a class in the church school for years. She was a charter member of the Kane Garden Club and the Kane Study Club. She also served as the Kane Study Club representative on the Kane Public and School Library Board.
In her will, Ricketts stipulated that Dr. J. Warren Ricketts and Anna M. Slease, who she appointed as her executors, use the residue of her estate “to help poor children.” They used her bequest to create this fund, which has made major gifts to children in the Kane area and beyond possible.
In 1959, with resources from the fund, the Community Hospital of Kane constructed and opened a new ward for children, which they named the Clara Hornsby Ricketts Memorial Children’s Ward in her memory. The fund has also supported pediatric programs, after-school youth programs, and other initiatives focused on children and the purchase of children’s books and other items for libraries.