Gina Mari Rickman

Gina Mari Rickman was an extraordinary woman who graced the lives of those who knew and loved her for far too short a time. Born August 25, 1961 to June Rosalee and Dennis Vandeleur Rickman, Gina was their third daughter. She attended Kalamazoo Public Schools, Eastern Michigan University, and recently graduated from Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Among her many talents was a way with figures that proved invaluable to her family and to the numerous organizations she helped run, including the Kalamazoo chapter of the NAACP/ACT-SO, Nice Shot Tennis Association, the Kalamazoo YMCA, and the National Congress of Black Women. A lifelong tennis player, enthusiast, and professional coach, Gina often won tournaments, and awards for her athletic excellence and sportsmanship. She also shared her joy in tennis and other athletic pursuits with her family and community; her sons Brandon Yale Johnson and Daniel Bryant Henry, and her daughters Brittany Shinel Johnson and Aaliyah Mari Hudson all play tennis, basketball, football, baseball, and other intramural sports. Brittany followed in her mother’s footsteps by choosing a career as a tennis coach. Gina made dozens of African American and inner-city youth familiar with tennis terms, tools, and techniques through leading community classes and workshops. An activist in the Food Justice Movement, Gina was important to establishing community gardens here on Kalamazoo’s historically black Northside. She contributed hours and labor to the 4-H Club. She volunteered for Kalamazoo’s People’s Food Cooperative and at Kalamazoo Central High School. She is survived by many loving relatives and friends On a day-to-day level, Gina maximized every connection she made with the people she met, giving and receiving information essential for the highest good of every person she encountered. She was beautiful in all ways and at all times, kind, intelligent, and honest--a warrior for truth. Gina was an amazing mother. She was also a devoted daughter, spending her adult decades in a shared household with her mother, making sure she was cared for and at the center of an invigorating daily life. She was a loving sister who supported Julie Anne Rickman and Denise Angela Shawl, her two older sisters, in their creative, emotional, and professional endeavors. She is survived by many loving relatives and friends. She was the heart of our family. Sadly for all, she passed away on June 13, 2013.

Gina Mari Rickman

August 25, 1961 - June 14, 2013