HUENEMANN, Ruth L. (1910-2005)

HUENEMANN, HANSMEIER, HUBER, STREYLE, BUEHRER, VOLKERT, EICK

Posted By: Connie Ellis (email)
Date: 10/6/2011 at 13:28:09

SOURCE: North Central Iowa Genealogy Society, October 2005
Contributor: Connie Ellis (Not related - Volunteer transcriber for IaGenWeb - Allamakee County, Iowa)

A memorial services for Dr. Ruth Huenemann of Berkeley, California was held on Tuesday, August 23 at the St. John's Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, California. Burial was in the Peace Reformed Church Cemetery, Garner, Iowa, where her parents and several siblings are buried. The Rev. Richard Eick of Waukon, Iowa officiated at the graveside service which was held on Friday, October 7, 2005.

Ruth Lois Huenemann, daughter of Rev. William and Mary (Hansmeier) Huenemann, was born February 5, 1910 at Waukon, Iowa in Allamakee County. She was the second oldest child of 14 children. Her father sold the family farm near Waukon, Iowa in 1913 and moved the family to Wisconsin where she grew up while her father attended the Mission House Seminary. In 1928 she graduated from high school at Menno, South Dakota where her father was pastor of the Reformed Church. During the Great Depression and Dust Bowl area, she taught children ranging in age from 5 to 17 in a one-room school while saving money to go to college.

Ruth received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nutrition from the University of Wisconsin in 1938 and earned a Masters of Science in Nutrition from the University of Chicago in 1941. Over the next decade she was a Professor at the University of Tennessee. She was offered a scholarship to study at Harvard University and earned a Doctor of Science Degree in Public Health in 1954. She joined the University of California, Berkeley School of Health in 1954 where she founded the school's public health nutrition program and established its curriculum, research program, staff, and funding.

Dr. Huenemann was one of the first researchers to recognize the importance of systematically studying longitudinal development of obesity in children, conducting seminal studies that to this day inform the understanding of current childhood obesity. Her research and teaching combined rigorous scientific methods with a pragmatic approach to improving nutrition in a variety of cultural settings.

She traveled widely in Latin America, Asia, and Europe as a consultant and lecturer for the World Health Organization, the U.S. State Department Food Aid Program, and numerous health and nutrition organizations. By the time she retired in 1977, she created an enviable record of teaching and research. After retirement, she accepted many invitations as a guest speaker in foreign countries and in the United States. She also volunteered at the Berkeley Food Pantry and for UNICEF. In addition,Ruth served as an elder of her church.

Dr. Ruth Huenemann died on Friday, August 19, 2005 at the Park Retirement Residence in Oakland, California. She was 95 years of age. She was preceded in death by her parents, her 8 brothers, Ruben Huenemann, Calvin Huenemann, Karl Huenemann, Elmer Huenemann, Roland Huenemann, Edward Huenemann, Lorenz Huenemann, and Paul Huenemann, and 4 sisters, Miriam Huber, Lois Streyle, Erma Buehrer, and Dorothea Volkert.

She is survived by her brother, Rev. William Huenemann of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and dozens of nieces and nephews.

NOTE: One niece was Carol Eick of Waukon, Iowa. The transcriber can not say for certain but the minister who officiated at her graveside service was Rev. Richard Eick, also of Waukon, Iowa. Perhaps he was Carol's husband. Carol was the daughter of Rev. Ruben Henry and Clara (James) Huenemann. Dr. Ruth Huenemann's father, William Huenemann and her brother Ruben Huenemann, are listed on the Allamakee County Church History section as sons of the Zion Reformed German Church in Waukon, Iowa who went on to become ministers. Another brother, Edward Huenemann was also a minister. Family researchers might want to refer to IaGenWeb for Allamakee County for information on the Huenemann, Hansmeier, and Shindoll family.