Alta Merle Ricks and the kids at the University Center for Gifted Young Children were a perfect match from the beginning.
Ricks’ first visit to the center, at the University of Denver, drove her to become its main benefactor. She gave about $2.5 million over the past 20 years.
Ricks was 100 when she died Nov. 8 at her Denver home.
A native of Oklahoma, Ricks moved here in 1952 with her husband, the late Francis Maurice “Cappy” Ricks.
They had a son, Jerry, born in 1932, who was killed in a bicycle- car collision when he was 8.
Alta Merle Ricks was introduced to the University Center for Gifted Young Children by a friend, William Collister, a DU law-school alumnus.
She fell in love with the kids immediately, Collister said.
“I could see that she was visualizing her son there,” he said.
She gave money to build a new center for the children, and its name was changed to Ricks Center for Gifted Children when it opened in 1991. The center, at 2040 S. York St., takes children ages 3-14.
It has 270 students, and about 300 have “graduated” from the school.
When Ricks visited the center, “the kids would stand in line to get a hug or a handshake,” Collister said. “She was very approachable.”
Students often visited her at home, most recently on Halloween.
“She was a loving, kind and generous person,” said Norma Lu Hafenstein, who founded the center in 1984.
When Ricks turned 100, on Jan. 6, each class sang a song to her and the school gave her a cake that was 100 inches long.
“The kids made her a crown with glitter and sparkle,” said Hafenstein. “They treated her like a rock star.
“Her generosity impacted the lives of many children by allowing them a special place to think and learn and express themselves. This is a legacy that will last for generations to come.”
Alta Merle McMahan was born Jan. 6, 1905, and attended the University of Oklahoma.
She was an only child. She married oilman Francis Ricks in Oklahoma City in November 1927.
She did many oil paintings and pencil drawings but never sold any, Collister said.
Ricks was also a benefactor to the YMCA in Oklahoma, and she set up the Cappy Ricks Fund in memory of her husband.
The fund gives financial support to elderly, infirm or incapacitated members of the Denver Association of Petroleum Landmen.
She has no survivors.
A private service will be held at the center.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-820-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
