BUXTON – Ruel W. “Skip” Ricker III, 79, of Buxton, died Thursday evening March 22 in the company of his wife and daughter after a long struggle with cancer.
Born in Waterboro on Dec. 6, 1938, to Ruel W. Ricker II and Bessie Hamilton Smith Ricker (both deceased), Skip grew up on a farm in Saco, raising dairy and beef cattle, pigs, horses, and other farm animals; tending acres of vegetable gardens and woodlands; and cultivating his lifelong love of tractors. A 1956 graduate of Thornton Academy, where he ran track, he went on to earn a degree in civil engineering at the University of Maine, Orono, graduating in 1961.
During his childhood and college years, Skip worked as a filling station attendant, a lumberjack, a heavy-equipment operator, and an engineering aide. Upon completion of his engineering studies, he worked as a civil engineer for the Maine Department of Transportation. In 1973, he became Highway Design Chief for the City of Portland, where he redesigned downtown Congress Street, as well as capital and neighborhood improvement projects, and contributed to state-aid construction projects. He also monitored updates to the Portland International Ferry Terminal. In 1978, Skip became City Engineer for South Portland, where he reviewed projects presented to the planning board and was instrumental in leading business expansion projects, with a focus on the Maine Mall area. Skip was an active member of the American Public Works Association for many years, serving as President of the State of Maine Chapter in 1979. From 1985 through 1990 he worked for R.J. Grondin & Sons in Gorham as a construction superintendent and estimator, and then opened his own estimating business. After some health issues, Skip drove Shaw’s Supermarket tractor-trailer trucks for Clifford W. Perham Trucking in Scarborough, and continued estimating on a smaller scale, working with Emery Brothers, Inc., in Buxton.
Skip was involved with the fire service in some aspect throughout most of his life: volunteer firefighter in Saco and South Portland, member of the Buxton Fire-Police, fire service training instructor for the Maine State Department of Education 1973-1978, and member of the Southern Maine Fire Notification Association in his retirement years, including a brief period as secretary. He served on the Buxton planning board 1989-1992. Skip loved chain saws and cut his share of cord wood over the years. He also refereed youth hockey in the 1970s and 1980s; and loved tinkering on old tractors, plowing snow, and flying planes on his home flight simulator.
Skip is survived by his wife, Margaret A. “Peggy” Ricker, of Saco; daughter Barbara J. Ricker Foster, of Buxton; son Howard B. Ricker and wife Lisa M. Ellis Ricker, of Saco; and granddaughter Kassaundra M. Ricker Foster and husband Gregory M. Foster, of Saco.
Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, March 29, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Chad E. Poitras Cremation and Funeral Service Chapel, 498 Long Plains Road (Route 22) in Buxton. Burial will be at a later date at Pine Grove Cemetery in South Waterboro.
Online condolence messages can be submitted at the funeral home website, www.mainefuneral.com
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Buxton Fire Department, 185 Portland Rd., Buxton, Maine 04093
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