Ruth Anne Schoen

Ruth Anne (Barry) Schoen was born August 17, 1923 in their farmhouse at Weston, the second of two daughters, to Gust Carl and Cordelia (Lehmkuhl) Barry. She died February 12, 2018 in Lincoln at The Arbors with her husband and family at her side. Ruth Anne attended Saunders County rural school District 44 through the eighth grade, and graduated from Wahoo High School in 1940, where she was elected senior class treasurer. She attended Doane College in Crete for two years, and taught school for six years; first in Lincoln at the Home for Dependent Children (Whitehall), then in Yutan (3 yrs), and Valparaiso (2 yrs). Ruth Anne worked one summer during World War II at the Mead Ordnance Plant. In 1976 when her youngest child reached junior high age, she began working part time at the Saunders County Care Center, and continued there for eleven years. She became a Certified Medication Aide (CMA) and was proud of her medication knowledge. On June 6, 1948, she married Kenneth Edward Schoen at the First Presbyterian Church in Wahoo. Five children were born to this union. They lived their first year of marriage at Valparaiso, and moved to her parents' farm at the Malmo corner west of Wahoo in 1949, where they operated as a team, farming until retirement in 1991. They built a retirement home in Wahoo and moved there in 1996. In 2011 they moved to Lincoln to the Legacy Terrace. Ruth Anne was a 4-H leader for 23 years, a member of the Merry Matrons Extension Club, and, when her eyesight began to fade due to glaucoma, she was very active in the Visually Impaired Peer Support (VIPS) group in Saunders County. She and Ken were members of the Nebraska Soybean Association (attending many national conferences), Saunders County Historical Society, and the Wahoo Whirlers and Lincoln Promenaders Square Dance clubs. They joined the First United Methodist Church of Wahoo on April 2, 1950; she held many offices and served on many committees, including Nebraska Conference Young Adult Presidents (with Ken). She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Leila Lehnert, her parents-in-law Ed & Louise Schoen, and nephew Allan Lehnert. Ruth Anne is survived by her husband of over 69 years, Kenneth; her five children Anne (Wes) Ballard, Lincoln; Lyle (Susan) Schoen, Milford; Jan (Jerry) Tooker, Lincoln; Nancy Schoen (Martin Costello), Lincoln; and Mary Schoen Petersen (Paul Petersen), Austin, Texas; eight grandchildren Naomi (Jason) Kile, Maggie Ballard, David Schoen, John (Nicole) Tooker, Emily Tooker (fiancée Sarah Adcock), Shane (Abbie) Tooker, Carol Petersen, and Nathan Petersen; three step grandchildren Matt (Nancy) Ballard, Heather (Tom) Brumm, and Luke (Crystal) Ballard; four great-grandchildren Jonathan Kile, Jessica Tooker, Amelia Tooker, and William Tooker; six step great-grandchildren Bailey Ballard, Trent Ballard, Taylor Ballard, Collin Ballard, William Brumm, and Daniel Brumm; and a host of other relatives and friends. Memorials are suggested to First United Methodist Church of Wahoo, Camp Fontanelle at Nickerson, or the Saunders County Historical Society.