Dorothy Arlene Rice

Dorothy Arlene Rice (née Riedel) was born in Coffeyville, KS, on October 3, 1928, and died in Glendale, AZ, on October 14, 2021, eleven days after her 93rd birthday, following a heart attack and three weeks of recovery and hospice care. She had recently moved to Phoenix from her home of over thirty years in Cordes Lakes, AZ.

She was known as “Arlene” for her entire life because she was named for her Aunt Dorothy. Living in Coffeyville for her entire childhood, she and her mother resided briefly in Los Angeles and Kansas City after the death of her father when Arlene was 20. She and her mother moved to Phoenix, AZ, in about 1952, married Charles D. Rice, and in 1956, had their only child Deborah. They lived in Phoenix until about 1990 when they moved to Cordes Lakes. Arlene moved back to Phoenix in March 2021 to live with her daughter. She moved into an assisted living home after her heart attack and passed peacefully there.

Arlene started taking piano lessons at an early age, and organ lessons as a young adult. During her high school years, she participated in numerous musical performances, including formal dinner ensembles and with school bands and orchestras. She often provided music for vocal teachers and vocal student performances.

Being raised as a Baptist, she served many churches as a pianist, organist, and choir member and leader. Her last service was at the First Southern Baptist Church of Mayer, AZ, resigning in late 2020 due to deteriorating eyesight.

Although she loved working as a secretary in various companies, and especially in law firms, her dedication to music saw her as a piano and organ teacher to children and adults for about sixty years. Arlene was very active in the Phoenix-area music teachers association, mentoring students enrolled in concerts and recitals.

Arlene loved animals and always had a pet or three. Her last kitty “Trouble” moved to Phoenix with her and still resides there. And while in Phoenix, she fell in love with Deborah’s dog “Sara,” who truly misses “grandma.”

Arlene was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Charles D. Rice, in 2007. Arlene, as an only-child, cared for her mother Velma V. Riedel (née Kitchens) who was crippled with rheumatoid arthritis and died in 1990, and her father Charley R. Riedel who died at the young age of 51in 1948. Her grandparents, great-grandparents, and numerous aunts and uncles, mostly from the Coffeyville area, also preceded her in death. She is survived by her daughter Deborah (Thomas) Sharp, twin grandsons Christopher (Kandis) Sharp of Quarryville, PA, and Charles (Stephanie) Sharp of Glendale, AZ, and six grandchildren Joshua, James “Cooper,” Virginia, Charlotte, Arizona, and Jocelyn.

Burial will be with her husband at the Arizona Veterans Cemetery with a graveside service officiated by Rev. Michael L. Babcock of Calvin Presbyterian Church (O.P.C.). Mortuary services are by Phoenix Memorial Mortuary. In lieu of flowers, please remember her with a donation to First Southern Baptist Church of Mayer, or Calvin Presbyterian Church in Phoenix, or the local humane society.