Amalia Yarmilla Zaruba

Yarmilla Zaruba (nee Zeman) of Lodge Estlian #404 passed away on January 25th at the age of 103. She was born in 1922 in a small Czech settlement in what is now Croatia and emigrated to the U.S. with her family in 1929 at the age of 7, becoming part of the Czech community in E. St. Louis and Fairview Heights, Illinois, for the rest of her life.

Zaruba became a member of CSA at the age of 16. Over the years, she served as Recording Secretary, Financial Secretary, and Treasurer of her Lodge ; was a Get-Together and Convention delegate (where she was one of the official secretaries several times); bowled and played golf with the Lodge League and at local and National Tournaments; and was on the local committees for several Get-Togethers and Lodge anniversary celebrations. She helped plan and run Christmas parties, picnics, rummage sales, and other Lodge activities; took part in local ethnic fairs; performed the Czech Beseda with the Lodge group; attended genealogical conferences; and gave talks on her experiences coming from Europe to the U.S. and her early years in this country. She attended gym classes with Sokol East St. Louis through her teens and stayed a member of the unit even after they became a strictly social group.

Yolly started volunteering at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, Illinois, in 1961. She managed time cards for all the other volunteers, chaired one of the hospital’s Book Bazaars, worked several Health Fairs geared toward 3rd- and 4th-graders, and was a member and treasurer of the Women’s Auxiliary. She was a world traveler as well, enjoying trips to many countries including Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia (as they were known then), where she visited her birthplace 44 years after she left it, and again 11 years later. She was amazed to think that she and her family traveled by oxcart, train, and steamship leaving her village, and by plane and car going back to see it.

In 2012, Zaruba was named CSA’s Fraternalist of the Year to recognize her many, many years of service and dedication.

Zaruba was the wife of the late Joseph Zaruba, mother of Barbara Spencer and Robert Zaruba, grandmother of four, and great-grandmother of two. Our deepest sympathy goes to her entire family and her friends.