Ruth Ann (Cave) Easter (2024)

CAVE, CLARK, EASTER, GARWOOD STARR, THOMAS, TIGGES

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler
Date: 8/31/2024 at 09:47:43

Lamb Funeral Home
Greenfield, Iowa

October 10, 1955 — August 1, 2024

Celebration of Life Services: Will be held on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Redfield with burial in the Dexter Cemetery. A luncheon will follow the burial at the Redfield Legion Hall. The Lamb Funeral Home in Greenfield is in charge of the professional arrangements. Online condolences may be left to the family at lambfuneralhomes.com.

Family Visitation: The family will greet friends on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, at the United Methodist Church in Redfield from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Ruth Ann Easter was born October 10, 1955, the daughter of Gerald (Atlas) and Lucy Cave (Clark) in Dexter, IA. She passed away on Thursday, August 1, 2024, at the Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD at the age of 68.

Ruth resided in Redfield with her longtime partner of 19+ years, Randy Starr. She was a loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend. The Cave clan grew up in Pitzer (rural Earlham/Dexter countryside) where she attended, and regrettably graduated midterm, from Earlham in 1974. Later in life she would describe to her granddaughters that she wished she would have stayed her whole senior year in school instead of being so eager to join the workforce. She had worked during high school with her siblings walking beans, and detasseling corn.

After graduating high school, she worked at the Dairy Sweet in Dexter and on Feb 7, 1981, she married Mike Easter, and their union resulted in two beautiful children (Jennifer in 1982 and Mathew in 1985) whom they raised in Dexter.

While raising her children she began working in the insurance and financial sector at Cognizant/ING and Nationwide. While pursuing her career she decided to obtain a Business Leadership Associate’s Degree from William Penn University in 2010 alongside her daughter and son-in law. It was a celebrated family affair to achieve higher education together even though Ruth frequently joked that she was older than the teachers.

After many long years working in the corporate world, she became a paraeducator at the WCV Redfield Middle School where she was passionate about working with the youth of today, including her cherished granddaughters Camryn & Brooklyn. It was during this time that she got the devastating news that she had multiple myeloma blood cancer in February of 2019, which forced her to retire from her job at the school.

Ruth was an avid member of each community she lived in, joining the Dexter Legion Auxiliary along with her mother, sister, and daughter. She also was a member of the Iowa Women’s Bowling Association with her friends and family where they went to nationals which allowed them to travel to a variety of cities and states. Ruth was always a very active person, joining a variety of teams in her life such as 6 on 6 basketball and track.

Ruth met the last love of her life, Randy, at the Redfield bar where they danced the night away. After some time, they moved in together outside of Redfield at Randy’s farm where she gained a lifelong partner, a horse named Leroy, a dog named Sissy, and a dog named Hattie. The opportunity then came for them to move into town to the church parsonage house across from the United Methodist Church where she attended and became a member. She was devoted to the church and was a committee member where she took minutes for the meetings as the secretary for the church board.

July 28th, 2020, she had her bone marrow transplant at Mayo Clinic, she proudly celebrated her re-birth of four years July 28th, 2024. It was a difficult recovery, but she stayed strong and positive through the entire experience. The cancer didn’t stop her from celebrating life to the fullest by traveling with family and friends on many vacations. If anything, her diagnosis made her live life to the fullest, relishing new experiences, speaking her mind, and seeing the world with her family. No matter how Ruth was feeling, she always pushed through and attended every family event that she could with a smile and her witty humor. She could always be heard cheering at her grandkids’ sporting events where she was a proud grandma. She became an armchair umpire/dance judge/& more depending on the sport. This last summer she became a player by joining her grandsons in backyard wiffle ball games.

She spent her fall Sundays at her son Matt’s house cheering on the Chiefs, and if she had to miss a game, she fully expected a play-by-play to be texted to her so she could keep track of the score. You would never find her without her iPad, her lipstick, and her phone. She wrote in her memory journal that one of the inventions she enjoyed the most was computers, likely due to them connecting her to all her family and friends no matter how near or far they were. She was constantly checking in on the people she loved whether it was through text, facetime, or mail.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Gerald (Atlas) and Lucy Cave; brother-in-law, Tim Garwood; sister-in-law, Janet Cave; numerous aunt and uncles; mother-in-law, Jane Starr; brother-in-law, Danny Starr.

Ruth is survived by her life partner Randy Starr of Redfield; four siblings Gary (Robin) Cave of Stuart, Ronnie (Berlinda) Cave of Atlantic, Patty Garwood of Dexter, and Janice (Max) Thomas of Stuart; daughter Jennifer (Jason) Tigges of Redfield; son Mathew (Kayla) Easter of Dexter; granddaughters Camryn Tigges and Brooklyn Easter; grandsons Carson Tigges and Ross Easter; and many nieces, nephews and friends.

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