Hope McKenzie Ridgeway

Hope Marie McKenzie Ridgeway, 96, of Ocean Springs, MS died Monday, October 28, 2013 in Ocean Springs. Hope was born in New Orleans, LA on February 24, 1917. After her father died, she was fortunate enough to be raised in a Lutheran orphanage until the age of 16. After high school she held a variety of jobs, then met her future husband, an Army man, Clem Ridgeway, Sr. They were married for 55 years, traveling the world for 27 years. Hope and her husband settled in Ocean Springs in 1970, but continued to travel the U.S. for the next 27 years. She always joined a Lutheran church wherever she lived. Hope was a member of Christus Victor Lutheran Church since 1972. She did beautiful needlework pictures and loved getting in her pool. Her family was her passion and her strength. Hope remained actively involved in life until the end. Hope is preceded in death by her husband, Clem E. Ridgeway, Sr.; her parents, John and Edna McKenzie; her sisters, Faith, Charity and Dorothy; and her brother, John. Hope is survived by her son, Clem Ridgeway; her daughters, Carol Ridgeway, Nancy (Dennis) Smerz and Debbie (Georgo) Trojanovich; her grandchildren, Angie Smerz, Katie Smerz-Hrabak, Season, Kayla and Niko Trojanovich; and three great-grandchildren, Tagan, Colin and Garen Hrabak. Funeral Services will be held at Christus Victor Lutheran Church on Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 12:00 p.m. Friends may visit from 11:00 a.m. until service time. Interment will follow at Evergreen Cemetery. The Ocean Springs Chapel of Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.