Ruth Hinshaw Lietz passed away Aug. 23, 2009. She was born on a farm near Ashland, Mo., in 1923. The family moved to nearby Columbia, Mo., where Ruth's elementary and high school years were spent.
She earned a Bachelor's of Science in Education at the University of Missouri in 1944. She married Private First Class (PFC) Edward Hale in 1944. In the World War II years, they moved to several Army camps in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. After the war, they lived in Buffalo, N.Y., and Chicago, Ill. In 1970, they divorced after 25 years of marriage. Ruth has two daughters, Carol Hale, who passed away in 2008 from complications due to Alzheimer's disease, and Susan Hale Kuder, still living. She has two grandsons on her side, Patrick Kuder and Matteo Musumeci, and three grandchildren from her late husband's family. They are Elizabeth, David Roy and Jonathan.
In 1967, Ruth earned a Master's degree in Special Education from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Ill. Ruth taught Trainable Mentally Handicapped (TMH) teenagers for 14 years in Naperville, Ill.
In 1972, Ruth married Roy Lietz and they lived in Wheaton, Ill. They moved to Prescott, Ariz., in 1978. Roy died peacefully in 2003 after having lived a long and successful life.
Ruth has one brother, Harold Hinshaw of Columbia, Mo., who passed away in 2007 from complications due to Alzheimer's disease. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Susan Kuder and Dennis Kuder; her two grandsons, Patrick Kuder and Matteo Musumeci; and extended grandchildren from her husband's family.
Ruth was a cherished and greatly respected woman by her peer educators, her close friends and acquaintances, and her family. Ruth's family is greatly indebted to her compassionate medical staff at Meadow Park Care Center in Prescott and at New Horizons Care Home in Chino Valley, who saw Ruth as both family and a close friend. She will be missed by all those who entered her life and were blessed to be a part of it and who felt the caring love she naturally gave to those around her. She will always be a "tough bird." Goodbye, Ruthie.
Services will be 10 a.m. Sept. 26, 2009, at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Prescott, Ariz. Friends of the departed, her church family, and acquaintances who felt a special bond with her are warmly invited to attend. Ruth has requested that no flowers be sent to her service.
Information provided by survivors.
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