Mrs. John A. Best, 86, died Thursday morning at her home on East Main Street, where she had lived ever since her marriage in 1899 to the late John A. Best. Mrs. Best, nee Emma Rippetoe, was born in 1874 in Connersville, the daughter of Jason Lee Rippetoe and Ellen Allen Rippetoe, while her father was superintendent of the schools there. She attended DePauw University where she was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. Before her marriage, she taught the seventh grade in the Delphi schools and during the 1920’s she was an English teacher in the Delphi high school. Mrs. Best was a local church organist for many years, playing in the Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopal churches. Active in the Red Cross and the Presbyterian church, she was also a trustee of the Delphi Public Library for twenty-seven years. Her immediate survivors are a daughter, Elizabeth of Delphi and Washington, D. C.; a son, John of Tulsa, Oklahoma; two granddaughters, Kathy Best of Tulsa and Margaret Best Van Wagoner of Dallas, Texas; and a great grandson. She is also survived by nine nieces and nephews, among whom are Edna Best Quinn and Margaret and Clarence Darragh of Delphi. Graveside memorial rites for Mrs. Best and her husband, John Best, who died in 1944, were held Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Masonic cemetery. Rev. James Wm. Rankin officiated. Jackson funeral home was in charge of arrangements.

Delphi Citizen March 23, 1961