Pauline Gertrude Phillips, 103, passed away November 4, 2013, at Meade District Hospital, Meade, KS.
She was born June 27, 1910, at Mokelumne Hill, California, the third child of William T. and Delores Robinson.

Pauline married William Leroy Rickers of Plains, KS, in 1927 and moved from California to a farm northwest of Plains. Later the couple purchased a half section of land southwest of Plains. Pauline lived there until 1953. The couple had three children, Harold Martin Rickers, Ronald Dean Rickers, deceased, and Carol Jean Lockhart. William (Bill) died in 1949. In 1954 Pauline married Paul Bennett Phillips of Dodge City; they made their home in Meade until Paul died in 1993. Pauline lived there alone until 2007 when she went to live with her daughter in Texas for 11 months before moving to the Lone Tree Retirement Center in Meade in 2008. She was a resident of southwest Kansas for 86 years.

Pauline was a very social person, which may have contributed to her long and productive life. As a young girl, she loved to swim, and she went swimming with her grandchildren even in her 80's. Leaving California as a teenager, she became a farm wife at just 17, cooking for harvest crews and living through the hardships of the dust bowl and the Great Depression. Pauline was an active member of the Plains Methodist Church and later the Meade United Methodist Church. She was a member of the Alpha Social and Study Club, a 50-year member and officer of Eastern Star, and a 50-year member and officer of Rebekahs. She even organized and founded a women's group in Meade, the Slimmer Trimmer Club, to facilitate healthy eating and exercise habits. Pauline loved to dress up in costumes...for the Kansas Centennial, as Santa Claus, cupid, a hobo, and even in a witch costume for Halloween. Widowed at 38, Pauline worked as a telephone operator in Plains and at many restaurants in Plains, Dodge City, and Meade, retiring at 79 years old from waitress work. She had many hobbies--fishing, cooking, gardening, sewing and crocheting, and working with word puzzles. Especially important to her after retirement was playing card games and socializing at the Beam (senior) Center in Meade. Pauline traveled long distances to visit her scattered family and even went to Europe in 1988 at age 78. She was affectionately known as "Cookie Grandma" by many of her grandchildren.

Pauline was preceded in death by her brother and a sister, both from California, her two husbands, a grandson William Russell Rickers of Plains in 1967, a great grandson Eric Rickers in 1977, and son Ronnie in 1983.

Pauline is survived by:

Her children: Harold Rickers of Plains and daughter Carol Lockhart of Bryan, TX.

Eleven grandchildren: Diana Brummer and husband Dale of Dodge City; Cheryl Rickers of Plains; Brian Rickers and wife Amanda of LaDue, MO; Rick Rickers and wife Debbie of Hugoton; Tina Eslinger of Kinsley; Sheila Bergkamp of Dodge City; Russ Rickers of Dodge City; Paula Kruppstadt and husband Tom of Conroe, TX; Dan Lockhart, Jr., of Caldwell, TX; David Lockhart and wife Julia of Flower Mound, TX; and Sandy Kimbrough and husband Robert of Greenville, TX.

Twenty-four great grandchildren and even several great great grandchildren.

Her sister Lorraine O'Rourke of Oakland, California, and nephews and nieces in California, Minnesota, and Kansas.

A memorial service will be held at the United Methodist Church in Meade on Saturday, November 9, at 3:00 PM.

Memorials may be made through the Fidler-Orme-Bachman Mortuary in Meade to The Beam Center (senior center in Meade).