Huston, Ruth K. 1923-2017

HUSTON, EGELHOF, KOSANKE

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 7/13/2021 at 21:35:41

Ruth K. Huston
April 14, 1923 - October 31, 2017
Born in Watertown, Wisconsin
Resided in Des Moines, Iowa

Ruth Kosanke Huston was born in April,1923, in Watertown, Wisconsin, the eldest child of Leona (Egelhof) Kosanke and Dr. Frederick Ernst Kosanke. Her father had a family medical practice in Watertown, and was on the Board of Northwestern College, a seminary for training Pastors for the Wisconsin Synod of the Lutheran Church. Ruth went to both public and parochial schools in Watertown, Fond duLac, and Lomira, and attended high school and college preparatory classes at Northwestern College. She went to the University of Wisconsin at Madison for her Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics and Home Economics.

After dietetic internships at hospitals in Cleveland and Lima, Ohio, she was recruited to work at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. There, Ruth met and married a handsome young veteran of WWII, Ralph Eugene Huston, who was a self-employed wood-worker. As their family grew, they moved from a house overlooking the Des Moines river on 2nd Avenue, to a newer home on 33rd St. south of Hickman. In 1958 Ralph took a position with the Maytag Company, and they moved to Newton, where she and Ralph helped found Our Savior Lutheran Church. Ruth worked as a Registered Dietitian most of her adult life, initially for hospitals in Des Moines and Newton, and then for the State of Iowa where she supervised menus and food purchases, and trained staff for numerous state institutions.

Ruth loved to travel with her friends and family, particularly her daughter, Mary Jean. Ruth stayed in close touch with her many friends, and was an active member of the League of Women Voters, Altrusa, the American Dietetic Association, and the Democratic Party of Iowa. She lived in Newton for 28 years before moving to West Des Moines a few years after Ralph's death in 1980. Back in Des Moines, Ruth re-joined Trinity Lutheran Church on University, where she had been an active member in the 1950s. Through her church she became involved with Des Moines immigrant communities, especially the Sudanese and Laotian families.

Ruth and Ralph had four children, all born in Des Moines: Michael (Mary Ann), Georgetown, Texas; David (Eileen), Des Moines; Mark (Laurel), El Paso, Texas; and Mary Jean (Rick), Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to her four children, Ruth has four grand-children: Ann Huston, a Park Ranger in Arizona; Thomas Huston, an artist in Chicago; Charles Huston, a food technology specialist in Iowa, and Emma Huston, a graduate student in Environmental Science in Oregon. Ruth's brother, Frederic Kosanke, a retired Lutheran Pastor, passed away in 2010. For the past seven years, Ruth has enjoyed living at Scottish Rite Park on Woodland Avenue in Des Moines.

In lieu of flowers, her children suggest that gifts or memorials be sent to Trinity Lutheran Church, 3223 University Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50311; The Nature Conservancy in Iowa, 505 5th Avenue #930, Des Moines, IA, 50309; or Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, 2304 University Avenue, Des Moines IA, 50311.

Iles Funeral Homes - Dunn's Chapel ~ Iles Funeral Home, Des Moines, IA 31 Oct 2017.