Photo by Sarah Sole
Rita Ricketts has a green thumb in more ways than one.
As a farmer and gardener, she has coaxed life from seed and soil. As Pickerington’s first female mayor, she was tasked with growing her city.
“It’s been a pleasure to serve the community,” Ricketts says.
Faces: Keys to Victory
Ricketts has seen Pickerington and the surrounding area grow considerably since she settled here. A Fairfield County native, Ricketts was born in 1931, smack in the middle of the Great Depression, in Greenfield Township.
“It was a very hard time for families in that period of time,” she says.
The sixth of seven children, Ricketts lived with her parents, three brothers and three sisters on a small farm. They owned livestock and grew corn and wheat, which helped the family sustain itself during leaner times.
Ricketts attended Bloom-Carroll High School, graduating in 1949. From there, she studied business at Franklin University, eventually gaining employment with Motorists Mutual.
Ricketts had met her future husband, John, at a square dance when she was 17 years old.
While John’s family had lived in Pickerington for generations, Rita’s family had lived just nine miles away for a similar stretch of time. Originally from Basil, Switzerland, Rita’s ancestors settled in Baltimore, Ohio. Both families arrived in Ohio at about the same time, Ricketts says.
In 1952, John and Rita married and moved to Baltimore. John, who attended The Ohio State University, taught vocational agriculture to high school students. In 1960, the couple returned to Pickerington and John’s family farm near Willow Pond, where he grew up.
By this time, the Ricketts found their house too small for themselves and their four children. They built a house next door to John’s parents on ground that had been in the Ricketts family. Once John stopped teaching in 1967, they began farming full-time. As time went on, they also rented ground on which to farm. By 1985, they had bought a farm off of Refugee and Pickerington roads, moving their livestock operations there.
Life on the farm kept Ricketts active. She had her own garden, which she still tends today, growing a variety of vegetables along with flowers including dahlias and gladiolus. She drove trucks, often going straight from the farm to her job as mayor. She earned herself the nickname “The Catering Queen” because of her habit of delivering food to her field workers. Now the farm is at 350 acres, and Ricketts rents the land to a caretaker for management.
The Ricketts were interested in their community as much as they were interested in the land that they farmed on. John, who passed away in June, was involved in local organizations for most of his adult life. He served on the Pickerington Board of Education for 12 years and was a Violet Township Trustee for 16 years. Motivated by his involvement in 4-H Club as a child, he was a member of the Fairfield County Agricultural Society for 52 years.
While her husband was heavily involved in Violet Township’s affairs, Ricketts found herself attracted to city politics. Pickerington was going through a fair amount of change at that time, she says, and there were decisions to be made about how the city was to grow.
“I just sort of started wanting to be a part of the decisions,” she says.
Ricketts was elected to Pickerington Village Council in 1981, eventually sitting on the Service Committee. After serving on council from 1981-87, she ran a successful campaign for mayor.
She served for four years as Pickerington’s first female mayor, from 1988-91. Following that she served for a year and a half on council again before retiring in 1992.
Ricketts had already seen Pickerington grow considerably even prior to her introduction to political life. When she and her husband moved in 1960, the city was only a village with 600 residents. Once she became mayor, she wanted to carefully oversee the city’s growth.
“I didn’t want to get bigger and bigger. I wanted to get bigger and better,” she says.
As mayor, Ricketts made an effort to attend committee meetings as a non-voting member to understand council members’ perspectives on various issues. She was mayor when, in 1991, the U.S. Census Bureau upgraded Pickerington from a village to a city.
Though she was the first woman in her position, Ricketts says no one found her gender to be a factor in her ability to act as mayor because they had known her already from her time on council.
“It was just a matter of moving into a little different position with a little more authority than when I was a councilperson,” she says.
Ricketts found her husband to be supportive of her political career. When he was a township trustee, they made a point not to discuss each other’s jobs.
“It really wasn’t hard to keep the two separate,” she says.
When she looks back on her time in political office, Ricketts says she is honored to have served her community.
“It gives you a sense of accomplishment,” she says.
Ricketts has contributed to her community outside of political life as well. She has been a longtime member of the church next door to her house, Epiphany Lutheran Church. She has also been involved with the Pickerington Violet Township Historical Society since its inception in the 1980s, serving on the board of trustees for many years and, later, serving as curator of its museum. Her drive to maintain the history of her home motivated her to become involved.
Last spring, she received an Athena Award from the Pickerington Area Chamber of Commerce for her service to the community.
Sarah Sole is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at ssole@cityscenemediagroup.com.
