Obituary for Jon Todd Rickman Print Jon Todd Rickman, 77, was born June 8, 1941, in Maryville, Missouri, to Clement and Genevieve (Todd) Rickman. He died February 14, 2019, at his home in Maryville. When Jon was 18 months old the family moved to Florida where he lived until the family moved to Warrensburg, MO, when he was 8 years old.
He graduated from College High (Warrensburg) and earned his B.S. in math, physics and industrial arts (1963), M.S in physics (1964) from the University of Central Missouri, and PhD in Computer Science from Washington State University (1972). In 1964 he married Donna Sprouse in Braymer, MO. Survivors include his wife of the home, children Janice Meier (Robert) of Olathe KS, Ann Barthol (Kent) Overland Park KS, Joel Rickman (Laura) of Washington MO; grandchildren Jordan and Jacob Meier, Brock, Dylan, and Luke Barthol, Nathaniel, Grace, and Adam Rickman; brother Will Rickman (Carolyn), sister Bess Mitchell (Harold), sister-in-law Cheryl Watson (Art), stepbrothers John Sill (Phoebe), Jim Sill (Dian), Steve Sill (Linda), and stepsister-in-law Norita Sill; and nieces, nephews, and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his parents, stepmother, parents-in-law, infant brother, and stepbrother. In 1964 he received an honorable discharge from the Missouri National Guard. Jon’s career was in higher education.
He taught in several different colleges until 1976 when he came to Northwest Missouri State University where he served for 36 years as assistant professor and Vice President of Information Systems. While at NW his goal was to provide conditions for the best education possible for each student; for Jon that centered on technology. While working with Northwest Presidents Foster, Owens, and Hubbard the steps were taken to form the first Electronic Campus in a public university (1987).
A talented and dedicated computing services team worked with Jon to implement the electronic campus which still continues to serve Northwest. Jon had the opportunity to be a speaker at conventions and to interact with many leaders in the field of computer science. He has belonged to and participated in national and international computing organizations.
He was one of the founders of MOREnet which serves the public schools in Missouri. He has written many journal articles, co- authored 2 books, co-edited a book, and written chapters for others. One special joy for Jon was the development of the Jean Jennings Bartik (first programmer of an electronic computer and NW grad) Museum on the NW campus.
He was a member of First Christian Church where he served as elder, board chairman, and a member of many committees including the building committee for the current church. He recently joined the tenor section in the church choir. As an active member of Rotary he served as president, on scholarship committees at local,district and international levels, and led the organization of a peace conference.
He was a Boy Scouts of America volunteer and was tapped into the tribe of Mic-o-Say. Jon’s hobbies include model steam railroads and the history of trains, his John Deere 1935 B tractor, watching car races (a treat was having dinner with his favorite Indy driver on a trip to the Indy 500), and traveling – especially to national parks with his family. His great love for and pride in his family was evident in everything that he did.
Many happy hours have been spent with grandkids at his farm. Services will be held Saturday, February 23, with visitation at 1:00 p.m. and the funeral at 2:00 p.m. at First Christian Church, Maryville. In lieu of flowers, memorials to First Christian Church, Jon Rickman Electronic Campus Scholarship at NW, or the National Park Foundation are suggested.
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