Ella Widdicombe

Ella Rachel Widdicombe, 74, died October 31, 2006. Services will be at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, November 4th at the Dengel and Son Mortuary, followed by graveside services at the Highland Cemetery with Rev. Katrina Palan. Friends may pay their respects to Mrs. Widdicombe at the mortuary from 10:00 a.m. Friday to service hour. She was born July 15, 1932, in Superior, Wisconsin to Emma and James Dillon. She graduated from Superior High School in Superior, Wisconsin and attended Superior State and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Ella was a librarian at Wisconsin Technical College and the Creighton University Health Sciences Library in Nebraska. She was united in marriage to Robert Davis Widdicombe on June 23, 1956, at Wheeler Presbyterian Church in Omaha, Nebraska and shared almost 48 years together before his death in 2004. Bob and Ella lived on an 80-acre farm in Sarpy County (south of Omaha) for 43+ years ' moving to Ottawa, Kansas in 1994 to be close to family. Ella was the Sunday School Director for over 20 years at the Anderson Grove Presbyterian Church in Bellevue, Nebraska. She was a member of First Christian Church of Ottawa and sang in the choir. Ella fought and overcame breast cancer after being diagnosed in 1993. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob, her parents, Emma and James Dillon, and her brother, Ray. Surviving family include one son, Kent Widdicombe and wife, Teresa, of Hillsboro, Oregon; two daughters, Wendy Gieringer and husband, Michael, of Ottawa, Kansas; Susan Rodgers and husband, Heinz, of Edwardsville, Kansas; and seven grandchildren; Nathan, Isaac and Bethany Widdicombe; Rebekah and Michaela Gieringer; and Derek and Heidi Rodgers; three brothers; Len Dillon and wife, Edyth, of El Paso, Texas, Jim Dillon and wife, Joyce, of Greenbay, Wisconsin, and Bill Dillon and wife, Liz, of Boulder, Colorado. Memorials may be made to Franklin County Cancer Foundation, c/o Dengel & Son Mortuary, 235 S. Hickory, Ottawa, Kansas 66067.