Maria Martin Lucas Ricker, born July 20, 1946, died peacefully on November 27, 2017 at Greenville Memorial Hospital in Greenville, South Carolina after 71 years of a successful and happy life. Her death followed a fall on Monday, November 20th that resulted in a traumatic head injury. In 2014, Maria became disabled with vascular dementia. She was cared for by her loving husband, Bob, who continued to work from home for their shared business, RMR Network Services, LLC.

Maria graduated from Myers Park High School in Charlotte, NC, in 1964, and from Winthrop College, SC, in 1968. During her career as a Program Manager for The MITRE Corporation in Washington DC, Maria helped design a breakthrough system for Air Traffic Control, among other projects.  In 1995, she took a PhD in Computer Information Technology from George Mason University.  When she retired from MITRE in 2000, Maria moved with her husband to Vienna, Austria, where they joined the community of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) ex-patriates working on United Nations cyber-projects, including nuclear-test detection around the world.  

In her years living abroad, Maria became an eager traveler. She and Bob rode camels in Egypt and elephants in Thailand. They walked on the Great Wall, visited the Terra Cotta Soldiers in China, the Kremlin in Moscow and the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, among other sites. The couple traveled above the Arctic Circle in Finland, Alaska, and Norway.  In their earlier travels, Maria and Bob spent a week at sea with brother Martin’s first command.

Maria Lucas Ricker walked in love, grateful for and delighted by the beauty and kindness she met on her way.  She was a beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, and friend.  We will miss her more than words can say.

I'm leading the way to Alzheimer's first survivor by participating in the Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer's®. Currently, more than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, and that number is expected to grow to as many as 16 million by 2050. Our future is at risk unless we can find a way to change the course of this disease.

Together, we can end Alzheimer's disease. Please make a donation, in Maria's Name, to advance the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer's Association. 

Thank you for joining the fight against Alzheimer's!

Bob Ricker