Obituary of Helen Ruhs

Helen Ruhs, 85 years old, died peacefully at her home which she loved so much, and went to be with the Lord on January 25, 2011, after fighting lung cancer for over 5 years. She was born on October 24, 1925 in Horace, Kansas to Henry and Ottilia (Schwenk) Schulz. Helen was one of seven children born into her family. On May 31, 1941, she married Edwin LeRoy Ruhs in Leoti, Kansas. To this union, 3 wonderful children were born. They are Darlene Edna Kay, Evelyn Christina Helen, and Frank LeRoy. For about 8 years, they farmed in the Horace, Kansas area. They built their first home in between Horace and Tribune. In 1949, they moved their family to their new farm, located southwest of Burlington, Colorado. As a Christian couple, their desire to find a church was very strong. They joined First St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Burlington and attended faithfully. In addition to farming, they made monthly payments to purchase a school bus to transport children to the Bethune School. Tragedy struck this young family in November of 1951, when Edwin suddenly passed away. With her faith in the Lord and strong love for her kids, she was determined to hang on to what she and Edwin had begun. She continued to farm and milk cows along with driving the school bus. Later she sold the bus to the school district. In 1953, tragedy struck again, when her farm house burned down, along with everything they owned. In spite of these hardships, she was faithful to her Lord and strived to provide a good life for her young family. Helen moved herself and the children into a grainery on the home site until a new house could be built. With the help of the church members and surrounding neighbors, this goal was accomplished. As her family grew up, they continued to farm, along with milking cows and raising turkeys and chickens, doing whatever was necessary to survive. Even though times were tough, Helen always tried to reward the children for working alongside with her. If there was enough money for a show, that was the treat for the week. She loved to play games, go to dances, and visit many relatives. Attending church continued to be part of their lives along with many school activities and 4-H. As it became more difficult to generate enough income from milking cows and selling the cream, she sold her herd. At this time, in the early 1960’s, she began to work in Burlington as a sales clerk for JM McDonalds. She continued to raise chickens…lots and lots of chickens, which involved everyone in the family at butchering time. Yeah!!!! After working at several other stores, she retired in 1995. Her home always seemed to be a warm and welcome haven where many relatives and friends gathered for family reunions and holidays. This gave Helen an opportunity to “shine” as she prepared food for her guests. You always felt blessed to have shared time and fellowship with her. As grandkids and great grandkids came along, Helen’s life centered around them. She always put someone else’s need ahead of her own. Everyone in her family was blessed with beautiful and warm quilts and wall hangings which commemorated the special occasions in each ones life. It was amazing to see how she could seem to save ahead even though her finances were very limited. Up to her final days, she still supported her church and several other charities. She was an inspiration to all who knew her as she was always happy and had such a positive attitude. She will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her. Preceding her in death was her husband, parents, and four siblings: Edwin, Wilbert, Frank and Esther, and a great granddaughter Wreyanne Walker. Surviving family includes her children: Darlene Yates of Burlington, Evelyn (Marvin) Kelley of Aurora, and Frank (Bev) Ruhs of Burlington; nine grandchildren: Debra (Charles) Blair, Anthony (Kristen) Kelley, Lisa (Ken) Bohrer, Laina (Rich) Walker, Sheila Kelley, Angela (David) Vigil, Michael (Chandra) Ruhs, Jason (Angela) Ruhs, and Rebecca (Tim) Castillo; twenty four great grandchildren; two brothers: Hank (Pat) Schulz and Johnny (Dorothy) Schulz.