Lucinda Mae Rickards

Her life’s calling was to be an educator. Lucinda was a teacher for 38 years, 25 of those at Winder-Barrow High School. She was dedicated to helping students learn Spanish and was known throughout the community and the Georgia Department of Education as “Señora York”. During her career, she held numerous leadership positions including department head at the high school as well as president of the Georgia chapter of the “Spanish Teachers Association”. She retired from WBHS in 2007 but her passion for education remained strong so she started working as an adjunct professor for Gainesville State University. In 2010 she fully retired which allowed her to pursue her love of travel. She and her husband Ron visited all 50 states and saw all but 3 national parks. They were blessed to cruise every island in the Caribbean and even toured France, Italy, and Greece.

Lucinda’s hard working attitude extended beyond the classroom as she was an active member of the community at St. Matthew Catholic Church. She sang in the choir for over 20 years and was also involved in the Women’s Club, again serving as President. In 2017 she was honored as the parish’s “Woman of the Year”. Her creativity expanded beyond singing. During retirement she discovered the joy of scrapbooking and would spend hours creating elaborate pages to commemorate special moments of her life and the lives of those she loved.

Lucinda is survived by her husband of 19 years Ronald Rickards as well as three daughters: Beka Poss, Angela York, and Emily Hanner, and a step-daughter Michelle Rickards. Lucinda has 5 grandchildren ranging in ages from 18 years to 8 weeks old.

A visitation for family and friends will be held at Smith Funeral Home, 755 Atlanta Hwy SE, Winder, Georgia, on Friday evening, May 6, 2022 between the hours of 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm. There will be a Memorial Mass at St. Matthew Catholic Church, 25 Wilkins Road SE, Winder, Georgia, at 9:00 am on Saturday, May 7, 2022.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the family at www.SmithMemoryChapel.com