Ruby Van Tuyl

Mrs. Ruby Pauline (Bridges) Van Tuyl, 92, of Kansas City, MO passed away Saturday May 18, 2019, at her home.

Ruby was born April 16, 1927, in a farmhouse in Cass County, Missouri, the youngest of seven children, to Frances Elizabeth (Dykes) Bridges and James Robert Bridges.

She was a member of Leawood Baptist Church for 20 years. She was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Cecil Lee Van Tuyl, her parents, three brothers, and three sisters. Survivors include her son, Larry Van Tuyl, her daughter, Paula Logan, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

When Ruby started elementary school, she walked to a one room school house a mile and a half from home, and spent the rest of her time working on the family farm. At the age of 13 she took the train alone into Kansas City on the weekends to work as a waitress at Young’s Café. After graduating from high school she moved to Kansas City to work full time for AT&T as a switchboard operator and shared an apartment with girlfriends she had met working at the Café. Shortly thereafter, when Cecil returned from the Korean War, he and Ruby started dating. They had met briefly in high school, but it wasn’t long until they married and then started a family.

Ruby was an expert homemaker and excellent cook. She was known for her dinner parties to entertain friends and her husband’s business associates. Ruby and Cecil were a perfect match. They liked to dress up and go out on Saturday night for dinner and dancing. Over the years together, Ruby was consistently a loyal and active supporter of her husband’s business activities and obligations.

Meanwhile the children were growing up and Ruby was active in their schools. She took her turn as President and then later as Treasurer of the PTA, and as the den mother for her son’s Boy Scout troop. She often invited the neighborhood children to afternoon barbecues on the weekends. She was always ready for the next thing on the calendar. Ruby Van Tuyl was a strong role model and set an example for all of us.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in memory of Mrs. Ruby Van Tuyl.  Donations can be made online at www.saintlukesgiving.org or mailed to the address below:

Saint Luke’s Foundation

901 E. 104th Street

Mail Stop 100 South

Kansas City, MO 64131.

A private family service was held on Wednesday May 22, 2019.