Ruth Farnum, 91

Published 4:44 pm Saturday, December 14, 2013

Ruth Farnum, 91, of New Ulm died Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013, at the Belle Plaine Lutheran Home in Belle Plaine, Minn.

Ruth Farnum

Funeral service will be 11 a.m. Monday, Dec. 16, at St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in New Ulm with Pastor Jeffrey Bovee officiating. Burial will be Tuesday, Dec. 17, at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis with full military honors.

Visitation will be one hour prior to the time of service at church on Monday.

The Minnesota Valley Funeral Home in New Ulm is handling the arrangements.

To leave an online condolence for her family or to sign the guest book go to www.mvfh.org.

Ruth is survived by her daughter, Lynette (Leon) Hopp, of Lafayette, La.; a son, Glen Farnum, of Titusville, Fla.; grandchildren, Nicole (Tony) Fix, Eric (Becky) Hopp, Tina Hopp, Aaron (Christina) Hopp, Samuel Farnum; great grandchildren, Gannon, Hudson and Sutton Fix, Kira and Brady Hopp, Charlotte Robeck and Jayda Fosse; sisters, Joyce (Norman) Boyum of Northfield, Minn.; Ida (Walt) Zanmiller, of Colorado Springs, Colo.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Emery, in June, 1995; two sisters in infancy; and by her brothers, Thomas, Milton, Orin, Glen and Orville.

Ruth Eleanor Peterson was born Feb. 17, 1922, in Northfield to Thomas and Alice (Larson) Peterson. She was a 1940 graduate of Randolph High School and a 1942 graduate of Minneapolis Business College. Ruth enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served as a Wave from 1943 to 1945, and as an assistant to Admiral King in Washington, D.C. She was united in marriage to Emery Farnum on Dec. 31, 1943, at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Northfield. After honorably serving their country, Ruth and Emery lived in Northfield, Owatonna, Minn., and Austin, Minn. Ruth was a Welcome Wagon Hostess in wherever she lived and was also employed at Nordin Optometry in Austin for 18 years until her retirement. She moved to New Ulm in 1996, after her husband’s death.

Ruth was a member of the St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in New Ulm and a charter member of Faith Lutheran Church in Austin, where she taught Sunday School for many years.

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials to Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School, St. John’s Lutheran Church and Bethany Lutheran College.