Dorothy L. Rucker

Dorothy Lee Rucker was born December 18, 1929, in Bowie, Texas. A day so cold some of the nails on their clapboard house expanded and popped out. She went to God’s loving hands on May 1, 2025. A day filled with birds, sunshine, and flowers.

Her father worked for the Rock Island Railroad so they moved around a lot and she attended many different schools in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Her senior year she attended Valley Center, Kansas, and Peabody, Kansas, where she was crowned homecoming queen at both schools.

She was a devout Christian who loved and cherished spending time with her family. She enjoyed putting her hands in soil working the ground to grow plants and flowers. Her thumb was so green that poinsettia plants brightened the living room long after the holidays had passed. When she wasn’t gardening, she had a passion for traveling.

Preceded in death are her parents, Roy and Annie South; her brother James South; her husband, Bobby Rucker; her son-in-law, Robert Herlihy.

She is survived by two daughters, Vicki Herlihy, Olathe, Kansas, and Cheryl Rucker-Cobb, Wichita, Kansas. Surviving grandchildren: Layton Cobb of Galva, Kansas; Matthew Herlihy of Olathe, Kansas; Jacob Herlihy of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Great Grandchildren: Natalie, Noah, Hannah, and Madilyn.

Funeral Service will be held 11:00 AM on Friday, May 9, 2025, at Resthaven Mortuary, 11800 West Highway 54, Wichita, Kansas 67209. Interment will follow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory, Garden of Gethsemane, Wichita. A reception in the event room will follow the graveside.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial in Dorothy's name, may be contributed to: Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, 313 South Market Street, Wichita, Kansas 67202.