Rebecca Ann Perry
https://www.stinemetzfh.com/obituaries/Rebecca-Ann-Perry?obId=28342317#/obituaryInfo
October 12, 1939 - July 2, 2023
Rebecca Ann Perry was born October 12, 1939, to Albert and Ethyl (Kaump) Stoltenberg in Grand Island, Nebraska. Soon after, Al’s job as Safeway grocery manager relocated them to Smith Center, Kansas. Here she discovered the place she would always consider “home” and met her lifelong friend, Kaye Mason. An only child, there is no doubt she was somewhat spoiled by her father, whom she adored.
Becky attended high school at Colby Community High School, graduating with the class of 1957. A member of the Music Programs Honor Society, Vice President of her sophomore class, Pep Club Vice President, and Band President her senior year, she was also active in Glee Club, Student Council, Kayettes, and the school’s paper where she was a proud sports editor her junior and senior years. She was known by her fellow students for her great personality, her frequent and lovely smile and her mother’s swell cooking!
Becky felt a calling for a nursing career early in life and in the Fall of 1957, she entered St. Luke's Hospital’s nursing program in Denver.
She met her soulmate, Airman Alfred David Perry Jr., soon after. They were engaged on Christmas Day. Dave was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base and when he received word he would soon be transferred to Michigan, Becky knew she couldn’t live without him. Placing her nursing career on hold, they were united in marriage April 19, 1958, and after a whirlwind honeymoon, began their new life together in Oscoda, Michigan. Their first year was magical and, much to their delight, Deborah Louise was born on their first anniversary. Cheryl Lynn soon followed and although the family was transferred frequently by the Air Force, Becky made a home wherever they landed. Katherine Marie came along in 1964 (oops), and their family was complete. Her love for her husband and children was boundless.
Becky was active with the base activities and soon was elected President of the Airmen Wives Club. It was in the spring of 1973, that tragedy struck, when a fall took the life of Becky’s soulmate and husband of 15 years. No words could describe her loss. She gathered her children and headed to Hill City, Kansas to be close to her mother and try to heal.
Becky bought a modest home, settled in with the children, and immediately went to work at the Graham County Hospital as a ward clerk. With her mother and eldest daughter’s help with the other children, she enrolled in the nursing program at Fort Hays State University. The next four years, she tirelessly worked at the hospital and was educated, traveling the 120 miles each day to graduate magna cum laude in 1977. Through it all, she remained active in her children’s lives through 4-H, Girl Scouts, Explorer Scouts, and a variety of junior high and high school activities.
Her compassion and empathy for people continued to move her along in her medical career. She trained and joined Graham County EMS and developed a home health program followed by a hospice program for the county. She believed you didn’t work for the people signing your paycheck, but for the patient in your care and it showed in everything she did.
When offered the job as Director of Nursing, she took it reluctantly, knowing it would mean less time in actual patient care but believing she could make a difference in the totality of care the patient would receive. Becky was the first to volunteer to cover a shift over a holiday or vacation so she could connect more closely with the patients. She was a powerhouse of compassion not only for the patients, but for her staff.
With the children all grown, Becky often talked of retiring on a small piece of land with a garden and some livestock, and this dream started to become a reality when she purchased 19 acres just north of town and placed a double wide and shop on it. Partnering up with her companion, Glenn “Bud” Wright, Ringneck Ranch was born. The pair cleared land, erected pens, and built a tiny town of roosting structures for the many pheasants and quail they raised. Soon the family would find baby pigs and lambs, cozy in their den and storage room, Becky too kindhearted to have them out in the cold of late winter. Calves were added and a large, raised garden was built. Becky loved the antics of the livestock and encouraged all wildlife to find sanctuary on her property. On occasion, she would allow a youth to try their luck at bowhunting turkeys there, but she venomously chased off any other prospective hunters.
Forever compassionate, she cared for both her mother and her companion Bud at her home until their passing. As her own health began to deteriorate, she moved to Dawson Place Nursing Home in the early winter of 2019. She left this life peacefully, July 2, 2023.
Becky is survived by her daughters, Deb Gansel, Cheryl Lee, and Kathy Cameron; her grandchildren, Michelle Billips, Mike Horton, Katrina Lee, Brittany Lee, David Cameron and Hannah Cameron; her great-grandchildren, Gabi Bryant, Gracie Billips, Garrett Billips, Greeley Billips, Raif Horton, Shannon McDonald, Hope McDonald Smith, Trey Wilcox, Wyatt Rayburn, Pallas Howard, Olivia Cameron, David Bruce Cameron, Khloe Johnson, Elliana Cameron, and Kehlani Cameron; and great-great grandchild, Saige Bryant.
Becky has always understood the joy and heartache of the nursing profession, especially that of the nurse’s aide staff in extended care facilities. As such, memorials will be to the Nurse’s Aide Staff of Dawson Place in Hill City and may be sent in care of Stinemetz Funeral Home, 522 N. Pomeroy, Hill City, Kansas 67642.
Services will be held August 18, 2023, at 3 p.m. at Stinemetz Funeral Home, Hill City. The family invites all who loved her to attend. Private interment will be at a later date.
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