Ruth Evelyn Smith, 87, of Lafayette, CO died April 30, 2018 at her daughter's home in Keenesburg, CO.
Ruth Evelyn Smith, 87, of Lafayette, Colorado passed away on April 30, 2018. Ruth was born December 27, 1930, in Kent, Ohio to Fred and Grace Yonkers.
Ruth was born at the beginning of the Great Depression. Her father, Fred, was a Rail Road man most of his life, working for the Erie Rail Road and making his way up to conductor. During the depression when work on the rail road was scarce, her father was able to provide for their family by working on a farm and taking vegetables to Cleveland to sell. Ruth remembered eating radish sandwiches as a child. When Ruth was a teenager her father traded the house that they owned for another house on a 5 acre farm. The house came with a horse, a cow, a couple coops of chickens and last year's crops. Ruth talked about how they would can chickens when they were too old to lay eggs. She graduated from Roosevelt High School and attended Kent State University. She helped pay for college by working at a bakery (learning baking skills from the professionals) until a young man named Robert "Bob" Smith began to court her. They were married at Trinity Lutheran Church on June 9, 1951 in Kent, Ohio. After they were married Bob finished up his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry at Kent State University. With training in chemical engineering and chemical, electrical engineering he held jobs at companies such as Diamond and Westinghouse. Using his training to teach what he was doing he even took Ruth with him on business trips to places such as Germany and England.
Together Bob and Ruth had 5 daughters. They lived and raised their daughters in Ohio and Pennsylvania until Bob was transferred to Colorado in 1975 where they lived for the remainder of their lives. During the time in her life when her children were growing up she was what we now call a "stay at home Mom", a homemaker. Ruth was a kind and patient teacher, and was pleased to pass her considerable cooking, baking, canning and sewing skills to various family members over the years. (And when mom was baking a cake, everyone wanted to lick the beater!) Ruth loved being a mother and a grandmother, and when her grandchildren had children they affectionately called her GG, short for Great Grandma.
Ruth grew up in the Lutheran Church. She later attended and was active at New Creation Church, a non-denominational church in Longmont Colorado. Her faith was a huge part of who she was and her personal relationship with Jesus Christ her Savior has been a source of comfort and hope for her and her family. When she was widowed in 1990 she joined a group of ladies who appropriately call themselves "God's Special Ladies". She and Evelyn, her daughter, enjoyed taking trips together, whether it was a day trip to see the fall colors in the Colorado mountains or a 5000 mile car trip that included other daughters and many parts of the central United States and Canada!
Ruth is survived by her brother Edward "Ed" Yonkers, of Midland, Michigan; her 5 daughters, Barbara (Paul) Boerger, of Flint, Michigan, Celia Brubaker, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Jennifer Smith, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Karla (David) Cunningham, of Keenesburg, Colorado, Evelyn Smith, of Lafayette, Colorado; 8 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob; her parents and Bob's parents and siblings; infant brother, Gordon; Ed's late wife Jayne and 2nd wife Julia; Celia's husband Scott.
A memorial service in honor of Ruth's life will be held at New Creation Church in Longmont, CO on Thursday, June 14 at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to New Creation Church, Longmont, CO or TRU Hospice of Northern Colorado.
Ruth stayed active and independent up until the last few months of her life. She always had a quiet strength about her. She was always doing, always helping, being a part of everything but never wanting to be the center of attention. She was a humble, loving servant of her family and her God. She will be dearly missed…