Ruth N. Koster

Ruth N. Koster, the daughter of Henry and Anna Boeskool Schultz, was born August 2, 1918, on a farm north of Cawker City, KS. She died at the Mitchell County Hospital in Beloit, KS, on April 17, 2008, at the age of 89.
Ruth grew up on the farm with her three sisters and two brothers. She graduated from Cawker City High School in 1936. After completing her normal teacher training, she taught in several country schools in the area, including the Plum Creek, Oakdale, and Victor schools. During World War II, she taught in elementary schools in Delphos and Minneapolis. Her first teaching assignment was in the one-room Hazeltine School five miles south of Cawker City. During the two years she taught there, she lived with Marie and Harry Jasper on their nearby farm. Marie arranged for her nephew, Jack Koster, to umpire a baseball game at the school's end-of-the-year picnic. This was the beginning of Jack and Ruth's courtship that resulted in their marriage on February 7, 1948.
After their marriage, Jack and Ruth lived on the John Koster family farm four miles south of Cawker City where they raised Shorthorn cattle, hogs, wheat and four children. She loved her life on the farm, which, in those days, meant milking cows twice a day, separating cream, doing the laundry in the wash house with a wringer washing machine, taking care of the chickens, working in the garden, canning vegetables, and feeding harvest crews. In 1966, they moved to their small farm on the edge of Cawker City. She was Jack's tireless partner, and nothing demonstrated this better than the care she gave him during the last 12 years of his life when he underwent the amputation of both his legs. Because of her devotion, Jack was able to live at home until his death in 1998.
Ruth was a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church and the Ladies Guild.
Ruth was a compassionate, gentle woman who loved animals. She nursed numerous cats and dogs through illnesses and injuries. As a result, she created special bonds with animals that brought her immense pleasure. Ruth led a simple life and found contentment in her home with her cats and books and always looked forward to visits with friends and family. They will remember her as independent, patient and unassuming. Her children and grandchildren will miss her example of how to blend kindness with strength.
In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents and sisters, Mildred and Matha Schultz and Lola Koster.
Survivors include a son, John, of Cawker City, three daughters and their husbands, Marla Fisher and Allan of Garden City, Debbie Thomas and John of Fowler, and Jo Dean and Jerry of Beloit; two brothers, Carl Schultz, and Calvin Schultz and Marge of Cawker City; her brothers and sisters-in-law, Mark and Jan Koster, Irma Koster, and Marge Koster, all of Beloit, Loretta Elniff and Celia McMillan of Randall, and Eileen Koster of Downs; five grandchildren, Allison (Fisher) Douglass, Emily (Fisher) Gough, Lacey Fisher, all of Garden City, Jacqueline Thomas and CJ Thomas, Fowler, and five great-grandchildren, Declan, Jack, Annika, Grace, and KJ.

A funeral mass will be at 10:00 AM Tuesday, April 22, 2008 at the Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Cawker City, followed by burial in Sts. Peter and Paul Cemetery. A vigil service will be at 7:00 PM Monday at the Church. Visitation will be from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM Sunday at the McDonald Funeral Home in Beloit. Memorials may be given to The Church or the Post Rock Humane Society.