Ruth Ann Wooden Roudebush, 83, of Overland Park, KS, died Monday, February 2, 2015, after a courageous battle against Parkinson’s disease. Visitation will be 2 to 4 p.m., Sunday, February 15, at the Johnson County Funeral Chapel, 11200 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, KS, with services at 10 a.m., Monday, February 16, at Colonial Presbyterian Church, 9500 Wornall Road, Kansas City, MO. Interment will follow at Johnson County Memorial Gardens.
Ruth was born March 6, 1931, in Winnetka, Illinois, the daughter of Ruth Ann Moulding Wooden and Robert Edgar Wooden. She is preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Thomas, and her sister, Jean W. Brower. She is survived by the loves of her life: five children, their spouses, 18 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
Ruth graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, and then earned a bachelor of science in math at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. In her child and teen years, Ruth spent many summers with the Cheley Colorado Camp, horseback riding and climbing some of the highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains. She was a loyal member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. After college, she traveled across Europe. She moved to Kansas City in 1955 as a newlywed and became one of Kansas City’s first computer programmers.
Later, she led many community endeavors including serving as a member of the Shawnee Mission School Board and as its chairman. She was a tour guide for the Kansas City Museum and president of the Musettes, a volunteer group for the museum. She worked on local and national political campaigns including serving as a delegate to the Republican National Convention when Gerald Ford ran for office. At Colonial Presbyterian Church, she served as a long-time children’s Sunday School teacher and elder and attended numerous women’s Bible studies.
She worked as the finance vice-president for her husband’s businesses including Akro Fireguard, a worldwide company. She partnered with her husband in such efforts as starting Camp Penuel East, a camp in Pennsylvania for underprivileged children, and serving for years as a board member of the Eldred WWII Museum that he founded in Eldred, Pa. He was a visionary, but Ruth made his visions work with her keen sense of finance and people skills.
Ruth touched our lives with her belief in the good of each person, convinced each person can make a difference in the world. She showed her beliefs by the way she lived her life. She rose early in the morning to study her Bible and spend time in prayer. Her orange bread and cookies showed up on many doorsteps. She beat cancer twice in her life, and, when Parkinson’s hit, she was determined to live life undaunted. Her trainer even had her doing exercises to battle the disease up until the last weeks of her life.
Ruth took an individual interest in many people. She hosted in her home international students from Taiwan, Romania, and Sweden, among others. She opened the basement of her home for lively Young Life meetings. Scores of her children’s friends found a second home in her home. She befriended developmentally disabled adults in a volunteer ministry called Abounding Love. For years, she served as a financial advisor and on the house board for the Kappa Alpha Theta chapter at the University of Kansas. She was named Theta of the Year in 1980.
Ruth’s annual Christmas candy villages as well as her needlework were well known among friends and family. For each of her 18 grandchildren, she needle pointed elaborate Christmas stockings. Her granddaughters received smocked dresses from their “Nana” and her home was adorned with many pieces of needlework. She also smocked dresses for stillborn infants at Mercy’s Children Hospital to be worn at their burials.
She is survived by her five children and their spouses: Sarah (Randy) Williams of Fairport, NY; Kim (Phil) Kenneson of Johnson City, TN; Thomas (Anita) Roudebush of Stilwell, KS; Jeanette (Mark) Miller of Lee’s Summit, MO; Georgia (Jim) Droppelman of Charlotte, NC; and 18 grandchildren, Elizabeth (Ben), David, Joshua (Jillian), Thomas, Ruth Ann, Chassy, Peter, Sarah-Grace, Olivia, Claire, Andrew, Lois, Kathryn, Adeline, Audrey, Camille, Grace, and Sarah Ann; and three great-grandchildren, Jacob, Ella, and Bennett.
Memorial contributions can be made to Camp Penuel East, P.O. Box 510, Eldred, PA, 16731, or the National Parkinson Foundation, 200 SE 1st Street Suite 800, Miami, FL, 33131.