RITTA DECKARD

RITTA LEOLA MARIE HOGUE, Was born
on Oct. 8th 1923, near the town of Red Oak Oklahoma. Moved to Arkansas
with her parents, George and Ada Hogue, and later returning from
Arkansas, she married Lin Clyma and had six children. Shirley Ann,
Linda Marie, Carolyn Sue, Sammy Harold, Donnie Wayne, and Velma Fay,
who passed away in infancy. She and her husband Lin, divorced, and she
remarried later to Ed Deckard, until his death. She had four
brothers, and four sisters, her brothers were, Luther, G. H., Jerry
and Arthur Hogue, and her sisters were Eddie Johnson, Ethel Forester,
Betty Miller, and Dorothy Brown. She had thirteen grandchildren and
numerous great grandchildren. She enjoyed road trips and family
holidays. As a young woman, she labored hard to provide for her
family, and carry on with the upbringing of her children. She suffered
a mental breakdown as a middle aged woman, and never seemed able to
quite recover from its affects. It was during those years, that her
faith seem to rekindle, as she spoke of Christ and his work in her,
and the spiritual quest she had entered as a young person. She spoke
of her personal trust in Christ's redeeming work, but realized that his
work in her wasn't finished. She never moved away from those
convictions, even to her death, which was one of peacefulness. She
had, for quite some time, been asking why the Lord was leaving her here,
and said she wanted to go be with Christ.