Ruby Starr

Ruby Starr, age 92, passed away on Thursday, March 29, 2018, at Windsor Nursing Home in Iola, after a courageous battle with cancer.

Ruby Louise Mitchell was born in Westphalia, on March 23, 1926, to William Edwin and Pearl Edith (Lankard) Mitchell. She graduated from Westphalia High School in 1943. After graduation she taught in elementary schools across Anderson County for five years.

She was united in marriage to Wilmer “Clarke” Starr on Jan. 31, 1948, in the Methodist Church in Garnett. They were married for 66 years before his passing in 2014. Together they raised their son, Wayne. The two settled in Western South Dakota in 1955 and farmed throughout the area there and in Kansas their whole lives. Ruby and Clarke semi-retired in 2005 and they moved back to Kansas.

Throughout her adult life Ruby was dedicated to her family’s farming business. She enjoyed planting flowers around her home and playing with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Ruby was a dedicated housewife and an office manager for her husband’s businesses. She managed the family’s business until the very end.

She was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Iola, and Bison, S.D. She was also a life member of the Fairview Chapter Order of the Eastern Star in Bison.

She is survived by her son, Wayne Starr and wife, Diann, Estelline, S.D.; one sister, Edna Boots, Tulsa, Okla.; one brother, Bob Mitchell and wife, Ginny, New Strawn; five grandchildren, David Starr, Estelline, S.D.; Carol Jergenson and husband, Ryan, Fargo, N.D., Mary Heckenlaible and husband, Lee, Freeman, S.D., Linda Miller and husband, Derek, Watertown, S.D., and Nancy Starr, Brookings, S.D.; six great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews, and countless friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Clarke, on April 2, 2014; her parents; and two nephews, Donald and Edwin Mitchell.

A visitation will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, at The Venue at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service, Iola. A funeral service will be at 10 a.m., Wednesday at the First Presbyterian Church, 302 E. Madison, Iola. Burial will follow in the Welda Cemetery.

Condolences may be left for the family at www.feuerbornfuneral.com.