Ladell Rae Stonecipher

Former [Lincoln, Hastings, Omaha, Stockton CA, Manhattan KS, Thousand Oaks CA] resident LaDell R. Stonecipher passed away November 29, 2025, at the age of 85 from Alzheimer’s disease in Thousand Oaks, CA.

LaDell Routh was born November 5, 1940, in Hastings, NE to Curtiss W. and Magdelyn (Einspahr) Routh of Minden, the first of four children. She graduated from Chappell, NE High School, returned to college in 1970 to earn her BA in Art from Hastings College, and completed her BFA in Painting from the University of Kansas. She married Charles L. Stonecipher in 1960 and they divorced in 1983. They had two sons: Brian and Scott. LaDell was a long-time member of Lutheran churches across the country.

Teaching:

LaDell taught art at public schools in Doniphan, NE (K-12, 1973-1976); Hastings, NE (Senior High School; 1976-1979), and Carter Lake and Crescent, IA (Elementary Schools, 1996-1998). From 1984-2000, she was a Nebraska Arts Council Artist-in- Residence at 41 Nebraska schools, with residencies lasting between 1 and 18 weeks at schools ranging from one-room country schools to urban schools in Lincoln and Omaha. She was at her best teaching kids to see the world in a different way and encouraging and helping them to create their own visual art.

LaDell lived for art—it was her passion. Her watercolor, acrylic, and oil paintings were exhibited in dozens of group- and individual-juried exhibitions throughout the Midwest and are in private and corporate collections across the country. She had art studios in Hastings and at the Burkholder Project in Lincoln in the 1980s and 90s.

In 1993 LaDell started work as a resident sorority house mother—managing staff, facilities, and meals and being “mom” to hundreds of young college women over the course of 24 years. She was a house mother at Delta Gamma at the University of Nebraska (1993-2001), Delta Gamma at University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA (2001- 2013), Sigma Kappa at Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (2013- 2016), and Delta Zeta at Nebraska Wesleyan, Lincoln, NE (2016-2017). She retired in 2017 and moved to southern California to be near her sons.

LaDell was preceded in death by her parents.

Survivors include:

Children and spouses:

Brian Stonecipher and Alexa Beutler, Newbury Park, CA

Scott and Judi (Osaka) Stonecipher, El Segundo, CA

Grandchildren:

Chloe Stonecipher, El Segundo, CA

Willa Stonecipher, Cambridge, MA

Lillie Stonecipher, El Segundo, CA

Siblings and spouses:

Larry and Caroline Routh, Lincoln, NE

LuAnn and Bobby Wiskera, Highland Village, TX

Lanae Routh, Denton, TX

Nephews and Nieces:

5

Memorials:

An informal gathering to remember LaDell will take place in Lincoln, NE at a later date.

In lieu of gifts or flowers, please remember LaDell in the following way: Visit an art studio or art fair and meet an artist. Find something you really like and buy it—a painting, a piece of sculpture or jewelry, a print. Take it home and enjoy it—and think of LaDell.