Ruth Lenore Schwarz

Ruth Lenore Schwarz
 
            Ruth Schwarz, 81, passed away November 12 in Omaha, NE following complications from pancreatic cancer.
            Funeral service will be 10:30 a.m., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Granville, IA.  Burial will follow in the St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Granville.  Friends may call anytime after 4p.m. on Sunday.  There will be a parish rosary at 5p.m. & vigil prayer service at 7 p.m. all at the Fisch Funeral Home & Monument in Remsen, IA.  Visitation will resume from 9 a.m. until service time on Monday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Granville.  Condolences maybe sent online to www.fischfh.com.
            Ruth (Luken) Schwarz was born September 29, 1928, in Granville, IA, the daughter of Lenore and August Luken. With the exception of the two years she spent in Olympia, WA as a newlywed, she spent her childhood and much of her adult years in Granville. Ruth married Robert Schwarz at the cathedral in Sioux City on 06/24/47.
            For many years, they had their own trucking business in Granville. They also had a summer gardening business, marketing fruits and vegetables. In addition, Ruth served as the city clerk of Granville for a number of years. Later jobs included bookkeeper for a Paullina lumberyard, librarian at the Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon, Iowa and as a case worker for Mid-Sioux Opportunity. She also volunteered at the Spalding High School library.
She is survived by her brother, Bob Luken (Ruth), Colleen “Kitty” Harm, Claris “Jeff” Harm, and Florence “Patty” Carnes (Clark.) 
            Left behind to cherish her memory are 7 children, 14 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. Her children include Robert Schwarz, Sioux City, Iowa; Jolene Buehrer (Dennis Sokol), Milan, OH; Mary Greiner and Gail Schwarz, Omaha, NE; Steve Schwarz (Teri), Omaha, NE; Carol Pottebaum (Randy), Alton,Iowa; and Diane Schwarz, Washington, D.C.  She is also survived by her son-in-law, Gene Sitzmann, LeMars, IA. 
            Ruth will be remembered for many reasons. She is remembered at Christmas for the Christmas cookies that she rolled, baked and frosted for more than 35 holiday seasons.  She is remembered for the gift trays she filled with those cookies, fudge and divinity for the St. Joseph Convent sisters every year. That cookie-making, and the gift-tray tradition, is now part of the holiday celebration of the third generation.
            We will remember her special talent for growing things, especially flowers, when we see those beautiful flowers she raised now growing in the gardens of her many friends and family members in several states.
We will remember the soft spot she had for all creatures, great and small.  In childhood, her children knew and loved a wide variety of pets. That love of animals is found today in her children, grand-children and great-grandchildren. Her legacy to them also includes her intelligence, her love of nature, athleticism, empathy for the underdog, talent for math and languages and creativity.
            Ruth will be remembered for her wonderful cooking ~ such great bread, pies, and German potato pancakes. 
            She will be remember for making the best Halloween costumes ever ~ and for those special one-of-a-kind May Day baskets. 
            She was preceded in death by her parents, August and Lenore Luken, her husband, Robert, daughter Betty Sitzmann, granddaughter Lisa Dittman, and infant sister Carol. 
Pallbearers will be her grandsons Michael Buehrer, Ryan Dittman, Richard Greiner, Corey Pottebaum, Justin Schwarz and Dustin Sitzmann. 
            Honorary pallbearers will be her granddaughters Kelly DeRocher,  Ann Krogman, Beth Rutar, Nicole Schwarz, Jamie Sitzmann,  Jessica Sitzmann, Krystal Sunderman and Leslie Wagner.