Ruth Luedke

Ruth Luedke, 94, of Colony died Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012, at Anderson County Hospital.

She was born in Chardon on May 27, 1917, the daughter of Norton and Emily (Gatlin) Finley.

Ruth grew up in Atwood and graduated from Atwood High School. She graduated from Business School in Topeka before going to work as a bookkeeper for Niswonger Hay and Grain in Atwood. This is where she met her uncle’s nephew, Robert J. Luedke. On Sept. 12, 1942, Ruth and Robert eloped and married in Pittsburg. This union was blessed with five children. They lived in Colony and Atwood, but finally settled in Colony in 1958. While Robert served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1945, they lived in Kentucky and Texas. Ruth was a homemaker and babysitter to many children in the Colony area. She was a member of the Colony Christian Church and also belonged to the Jolly Dozen Club.  

She is survived by her sons, Ron and his wife, Pat, Garnett, Jerry and his wife, Susan, Colony, and Glen and his wife, Sheila, Mandeville, La.; her daughter Joyce Collins and her husband, Terry, Wathena; 10 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; one brother, Jack Finley and his wife, Doris, Atwood; and many in-laws, nieces and nephews. 

Ruth was preceded in death by her husband, Robert J. Luedke, on May 6, 2009, her son, Gary; a grandson, Brian, granddaughter Michelle; and two brothers, Fred and Don Finley.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Feuerborn Family Funeral Service in Colony. Interment will follow in the Colony Cemetery.  

The family will greet friends at 10 a.m. prior to the service at the funeral home. She will lie in state from 3 to 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Colony funeral home.  

Memorial contributions may be made to the Colony Christian Church. Condolences to the family may be sent online to www.feuerbornfuneral.com.