Ruth W. Roellig

Born on 14 Nov. 1927, Ruth Wilhelmine Bertha Roellig nee Holm passed away from stroke in her sleep the night of 21 Nov. 2021 at the age of 94. She was raised on a farm in Worth, Illinois with three older brothers (who preceded her in death) by excellent parents. Defying family expectations of staying on the farm until marriage, she applied to and received her Nursing Diploma from the Michael Reese School of Nursing in Chicago. After a half year stint at the Chicago Infectious Diseases Hospital, she decided she wanted to travel and so joined the Army Nurse Corps, where she was made, as she liked to tell it, “an officer and gentleman, by Act of Congress”. The Army came through with both the travel (Japan, Korea, Germany, France) and a life-long Army buddy in Elizabeth “Si” Simons. Together, they pioneered the Army’s BSN program at Cal, Berkeley, graduating in 1956. Her nine total years in the Army came to a close in 1959, when she met a fellow grad student at Columbia University in NY named Harold F. Roellig (who preceded her in death), in a young adult group at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. They were married shortly thereafter, moved to Long Island, NY, and had four children over the next 8 years. She raised us on groaner puns, ridiculous made-up songs, yummy cooking she learned on the farm and from exotic cooking classes taken in foreign lands, and a lot of love.

She had diverse interests including all kinds of needlecraft, birding, wildflower identification, gardening, record collecting, cooking, jigsaw puzzles, singing in the church choir and fishing. From her lifelong love of reading she became an accomplished trivia head who routinely finished the NY Times crossword. She was often quite funny and silly, but, should an emergency arise, she would shock us by instantly transforming back into a steely-eyed, fast-acting, calm and efficient Korean War veteran army captain. In her last years, as her mental faculties declined, she managed to stay cheerful and never failed to sincerely thank her various care providers.

Finally, although possessing the traditional qualities of the “Greatest Generation” like self-reliance, fortitude, integrity, uncomplaining self-sacrifice, honesty etc., she was, after all, still a self-centered human being, a sinning sinner who sinned, who failed frequently to love her neighbor as herself. She ruefully admitted this at least on a weekly basis, and, happily, she also accepted God’s forgiveness for these failings through his Son, Jesus Christ, and thus has joyfully entered into God’s eternal kingdom.

A calling for Ruth will be held from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM on Saturday, November 27, 2021, at Ascension Lutheran Church, 8811 St Joe Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46835. Following the calling will be a funeral service at 2:00 PM also at the church.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy for the Roellig family may be shared at www.HockemeyerMillerFH.com