Olive Mae Bickerstaff

Olive Mae Bickerstaff, 91, of Ottawa, Kansas, passed away Wednesday, November 29, 2023, at AdventHealth South Overland Park Hospital, Overland Park, Kansas.

Services will be held 2:00 pm, Friday, December 8, 2023, at Dengel & Son Mortuary, Ottawa, Kansas. Family will greet friends from 1:00 to 2:00 pm prior to the services.

Interment Ruhamah Cemetery, Rantoul, Kansas.

Olive was born Tuesday, April 5, 1932, in Ottawa, Kansas, the daughter of Thomas and Cecil (Tabor) Poe.

She was a lifelong Franklin County resident attending Ottawa and Rantoul schools,

Olive was united in marriage on June 5, 1949, in Ottawa, Kansas, to James W. “Bill” Bickerstaff. He preceded her in death on September 8, 2010.

She worked at Rantoul Elementary School in the early 1960s as a cook; a seamstress with Mode O’ Day and H.D.Lee in the late 1960s and 1970s; with Pepsi Bottling Company in Ottawa in the clerical department in the mid to late 1970s; in the admissions department for the Osawatomie State Hospital; and in the clerical department at KOFO Radio. Olive was also a licensed real estate agent working for Crown Realty and Century 21 in Ottawa before retiring in 1997.

Olive was a member of the Homewood Christian & Community Church where she taught Sunday school and was a music director.

She loved gardening, sewing, music, drawing, raising chickens, and especially loved spending time with her family and grandchildren.

Olive was preceded in death by her husband Bill; parents Thomas and Cecil; six brothers; and five sisters.

Survivors include son James Bickerstaff of Ottawa; daughters Brenda Albert (Robert) and Barbara Mowat both of Ottawa; many grand and great grandchildren; along with many nieces and nephews.

The family suggests memorial contributions to Hope House c/o Dengel & Son Mortuary, 235 S. Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas 66067.