Clive Rickabaugh’s Work Still Standing at Sheridan Christian Church

Clive Rickabaugh’s artwork is still standing at the Sheridan Christian Church today. In the first grade, in 1912, he handed a drawing to his first grade teacher at Sheridan school; she saw his potential and encouraged him. He attended Sunday School at Sheridan Christian Church as a child and wanted to give back to the church that had molded him into what he was. All of his artwork was given to the church at no cost.

Rickabaugh did paintings of the Last Supper, Moses and the 10 Commandments, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, among other things.

His best work was the Nativity Scene that is still on display during every Christmas at the church. Anetha Girling, one of the congregants, suggested the idea to Rickabaugh. He asked Dale Hennegin to build a cabinet for the sculpture, and Hennegin turned out to have talent himself as an artist. He did more than what was asked, building a cabinet and a table that turned out to match the sculpture perfectly. Marion Rickabaugh, Clive’s wife, who was the Art Director at a Chicago advertising firm, did the lettering, and it took her a month to design the lettering. 

Clive went to Drake University. He originally intended to become a minister; Sheridan Christian Church has produced several ministers over the years. However, as he progressed in his studies, he was drawn more and more to art, and one of his professors encouraged him to pursue it. He went on to the University of Chicago to study art, and became a professional artist.

Rickabaugh went on to do paintings, wood, stone carvings, clay, bronze, and design. At one point, he was the designer for ABC’s “Super Circus.” He also designed scenes for the Grand Opera in Chicago, wrote a children’s play that ran for 33 nights in Chicago, and wrote a puppet play that he sold to a trope in Denver (CO). 

But Clive frequently came back to Sheridan to give back. In 1930, on his father’s farm, he saw a fence post that he liked and carved it into a bison. During World War II, he came back home and built a stone cottage south of the Sheridan Cemetery. He began to do artwork for the church after it began remodeling, starting with the Last Supper.

The first grade teacher at Sheridan who had believed in Clive saved all of his artwork that he had handed in during his first grade year in 1912. She lived to be over 90, and when she passed away, her niece found the artwork and gave it to Clive.

The story was told by Bill Findley, who wrote a lot of stories about the land and history of Worth County during the late 1960’s for Joe Stocks.