Hermeier, Ruby Fern (Totman) 1932 - 2018

HERMEIER, TOTMAN, MEYER, HERSHFIELD, JENSEN, STOCKDALE, TYLER, SMITH, SWITZER, OLYNYK

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 12/10/2018 at 16:51:48

Ruby F. Hermeier, age 86, died Monday morning, November 26, 2018 at Sunrise Care Center in Edina, MN. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, December 1, 2018 at First Lutheran Church in Decorah with Rev. Chad Huebner and Rev. Melissa Bills officiating and Rev. Elizabeth Hermeier assisting. Burial will be in Lutheran Cemetery in Decorah.

Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, one hour before the service, at First Lutheran Church.

Ruby Fern (Totman) Hermeier was born on January 17, 1932, the only child of Ray and May Totman of Rembrandt, IA. She spent all of her childhood years in Rembrandt and was involved in basketball, theater, and choir before graduating from Rembrandt High School in 1949.

In the fall of that same year, Ruby began her college education at Luther College in Decorah, IA. She sang in Nordic Choir under the direction of Weston Noble. This experience fueled her life-long passion for music and prompted her to create children and adult church choirs in many communities where she lived, in part because she “wanted her daughters to be able to sing.”

Ruby received a two-year elementary education degree from Luther in 1951 and was a teacher to her core. Her first and second teaching positions were in Postville and Waukon, IA, where she worked until she married Gene Hermeier on June 7, 1953 during a 7-inch rainfall.

While Gene attended Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, IA, Ruby established and ran a licensed nursery school primarily for neighborhood children. During their first three years of marriage, daughters Paula and Kristi were born. After four years, during Gene’s internship in Arizona, daughter Nancy was born. Eighteen months later, daughter Kari was born and Gene baptized her at his ordination service. Gene accepted his first call in the ministry for a two-point parish in Riverdale and Coleharbor, ND; Ruby, Gene, and four daughters under the age of six headed north.

During their North Dakota years, Ruby focused on rearing their four daughters, running a local daycare, starting and conducting church choirs, and engaging in church activities. From there, the family moved to Council Bluffs, IA, and Ruby resumed her teaching career across the Missouri River in the first inner city Head Start program in Omaha, NE. While in Council Bluffs, Ruby returned to school to earn her four-year teaching degree from Dana College in Blair, NE, graduating in 1972.

From Council Bluffs, Ruby and Gene moved to Des Moines, IA, where Ruby taught in Head Start programs and became involved increasingly in church, community, and professional activities. She taught Bethel Bible Series and Parent Effectiveness Training, was heavily involved in Prison Ministries and Cursillo, and was the founder of five Stephen Ministry Programs focused on lay ministry outreach.

With a heart open to all, while in Des Moines, she and Gene “adopted” Hugh Davis, an ex-convict who lived with the family for many years as he reintegrated into society. Ruby also attended classes at Drake University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education. In October, 1977, daughter Kristi died while a senior at Luther College.

In 1978, Ruby and Gene moved to Fridley, MN, where they lived for 14 years. In addition to continuing her church and community activities, Ruby taught in the public school system and founded a successful nursery school. Beginning in 1992, Ruby and Gene lived in several communities in Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota as Gene served in a series of interim pastoral calls.

Ruby was always Gene’s steadfast partner as well as a significant force of her own accord – for example, launching new programs, teaching, and leading choirs. In 1999, Ruby was named “Iowa Mother of the Year” for her commitment to strengthening family and communities. She stated in an interview with the Des Moines Register that her foundation for parenting was “a combination of Proverbs 22:6 (Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it) and giving children both roots and wings.”

In 2001, Ruby and Gene decided to “retire” in Decorah, IA. Ruby continued her lifelong church involvement with both Decorah Lutheran and First Lutheran Churches and was an active member of Luther College Women, serving as President for two years. When she learned that international students at Luther College wanted to learn to drive, she took it upon herself to teach them this essential life skill. A gifted, patient teacher, she taught 62 Luther international students how to drive and helped them attain their driver’s licenses, often in exchange for cooking her a meal from their native countries.

Ruby’s life was shaped by faith, family, and friendship. She was a committed church leader throughout her married life. Her love of family was reflected in deep relationships with her daughters, their husbands, and grandchildren. For nearly a decade, Ruby organized “Grandma and Grandpa Camp” – an annual, one-week, grandchildren-only event – that fostered enduring relationships. The tradition continues today as grandchildren gather annually for “Cousins’ Weekend.”

Friendships were essential to Ruby, who made a point to sustain and grow relationships through phone calls, travel, visits, Scrabble games, “Clean Plate Club,” and book club. She was naturally curious and genuinely interested in others’ lives. She opened her home to everyone and made it a priority to maintain a welcoming environment. Having moved 25 times in her marriage, Ruby learned to bloom where she was planted.

Ruby was preceded in death by her beloved husband Gene Hermeier, daughter Kristi Hermeier, parents May and Ray Totman, brother-in-law Allen Hermeier, and brother-in-law Ron Stockdale.

Ruby is survived by daughters and sons-in-law Paula (Kurt) Meyer, Nancy (Dale) Hershfield, and Kari (David) Jensen, sister-in-law Helen Hermeier and sister-in-law Carol Stockdale. She is also survived by seven grandchildren and their spouses: Margaret (Matt) Tyler, Eleanor (Andre) Smith, Ethan Meyer, Leah (Michael) Switzer, Hanna Jensen, Josef (Julia) Olynyk, and Lukas Olynyk. Ruby was blessed with four great-grandchildren who survive her: Leo and Dottie Olynyk, Louisa Tyler, and Caroline Switzer.

Blessed be her memory.

Memorial Gifts may be given to Luther College or Friends of Ngong Road:

Luther College
Kristi Lee Hermeier Scholarship
Development Office
700 College Drive
Decorah, IA 52101

Friends of Ngong Road
P.O. Box 581308
Minneapolis, MN 55458

Source: Fjelstul Funeral Home database

Lutheran Decorah Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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