Rickey Lynn Beltz, age 63, died at his home in Garden City on Dec. 12, 2017.  He was born on Sept. 4, 1954 in Wichita, Kansas the son of Sidney and Evelyn Foos Beltz.

Rickey was an umpire and referee in the Garden City area for high school and college baseball and soccer.  He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Garden City. He graduated from Bazine High School in 1972, St. John’s College in Winfield, Kan., in 1974, and Concordia Teachers College of Seward, Neb., in 1976.

He is survived by his mother, Evelyn Beltz of Bazine; sister, Deanna Michaelis and her husband, James, of Bazine; nieces, Dr. Stacey Dimitt and her husband, Bart, and their daughter, Peyton, all of Smith Center and Melody Ketterer and her husband, Marvin, and their son, Maddox, all of Manhattan; and many cousins, uncles, aunts, and friends.

Rickey was preceded in death by his father, Sidney, and infant siblings.

Funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, 2017 at Fitzgerald Funeral Home, Ness City with burial in the Bazine Cemetery, Bazine, Kansas. Friends may call at Fitzgerald Funeral Home from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. Friday with the family present from 7 to 8 p.m.

Memorial contributions may be given to the Christ Pilot Me Hill and The Lutheran Hour.