Helen Esther Riepl

Helen Esther Riepl

April 23, 1930 - Sept. 27, 2014

EDMOND, Okla. -- Helen Esther Riepl, 84, died Saturday (Sept. 27, 2014), at her home in Edmond.

She was born April 23, 1930, in Oberlin, Kansas, to Leo and Esther Lillian (Hanson) Bendon. She graduated from Decatur Community High School in 1948.

She married Gerald R. Riepl on Aug. 27, 1950, in Oberlin. They moved in January 1952 to Cimarron, where she worked at the Jacksonian newspaper and Cimarron Insurance and was a Sunday School teacher, youth group sponsor and a registered graphologist.

She was a member of the First United Methodist Church, United Methodist Women, the PEO Sisterhood and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary in Cimarron.

She was preceded in death by her husband in 2004; her parents; a brother, Leo T. Bendon; and two sisters, Frances (Paul) Starbuck and Glee (Don) Jorn.

Survivors include four sons, John Riepl, Overland Park, Kansas, Gary and wife, Suzy Riepl of St. Joseph, Missouri, Greg and wife, Connie Riepl of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Jim Riepl of Cimarron, Kansas; sisters, Cecil Hess of Oberlin and Mary Lou and husband, Keith Olson of Herndon; sister-in-law, Marianna Bendon of Midlothian, Virginia; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren;

Funeral services are 10 a.m. today in the church in Cimarron with the Rev. Mike Keating officiating. A graveside service will be at 3 p.m. today at the Oberlin Cemetery.

Memorials may be given to the Shepherd Center in Cimarron or the Methodist churches in Cimarron or Oberlin, in care of the Swaim Funeral Home, 1906 Sixth Ave., Dodge City, Kan., 67801.