Ruth was born December 1, 1929, to Adam and Mary Wagner, on their farm near Windsor, Colorado. She was her mother’s fourth and last child. The family moved into the town of Windsor when Ruth was nine years old. Her most vivid memory of that trip was being entrusted with holding the family’s valuable winter supply of latwerge, sugar beet syrup, in a five-gallon jug on her lap. A daughter of Germans from Russia immigrants, Ruth maintained many such family traditions throughout her life.
Ruth was confirmed in the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Windsor in May 1943. She graduated from Windsor High School in 1948, then worked as a telephone operator until her marriage. Her first marriage was to Lee Wagner on December 3, 1950; the ceremony was held in her home town of Windsor. In the ensuing years, the couple had three children: Sandra Elaine in 1954, Richard Lee in 1956, and Marie Ruth in 1960.
Ruth and Lee lived and worked on the Wagner family farm near Wellington for most of their married life, raising sugar beets, alfalfa and cattle. Ruth worked on the farm, and as the kids grew older, returned to her job as a telephone operator for the Mountain Bell Telephone Company. After the children were grown and on their own, Ruth and Lee bought a house in Fort Collins to make their work commute a bit easier. However, they soon grew tired of city life, and moved back to their Wellington farm.
Ruth was an expert baker and won many prizes at the Larimer County fair for her pies and cakes. The family were also the recipients of her wonderful baked goods and ethnic specialties. She and Lee also loved having a big garden; falls were devoted to Ruth canning, freezing and preserving the abundant produce.
After almost 44 years of marriage, Ruth lost Lee on September 10, 1994. Fortunately, she had friends who played match-maker, and she married Oscar Haake on April 13, 1996, with whom she lived for 26 years. She enjoyed the greater number of children, grand-children and great-grandchildren in the extended family to love and spoil. Ruth and Oscar traveled often, but when home were active in the church during the many years they lived on Ruth’s farm. Ruth lost her youngest daughter, Marie Ruth, on July 20, 2015. This was a heavy burden she carried the remainder of her days. In 2019, Ruth and Oscar decided to move to Wray, Colorado, to be nearer Oscar’s family. Ruth lost Oscar on February 3, 2022, and she went to her eternal rest a few months later.
Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, Adam and Mary Wagner; her sisters Verna Krug and Helen Condos; brother Harry Winter; nephews Bruce Krug, John Condos, Richard Winter, Charles Winter; great-nephew Ty Rutledge; and daughter Marie Ruth Baldwin. She is survived by her two children: Sandra (William Getz) Wagner and Richard (Sue) Wagner, her grandchildren Kate Wagner, Jayne (David Stimson) Wagner and Maleesa (Brandon) Foreside, her two great-grandchildren Aurora Rose Foreside and Lincoln Carter Foreside, nephew Fred (Debbie) Condos, nieces Bernadette (Tim) Rutledge and Karen (Mike) Lind: as well as by her shared family, Bradley (Julie) Haake, Mark (Mildred) Haake, and Marla (Brad) Rock, grandchildren Anita (Chas) Lengfelder, Barbara (Darren) Hinderer, Matt Haake, Jessilyn (Weston) Bugbee, Tessa Haake, Alex (Audrey) Rock, Amanda (Michael) Kerbs, and 13 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at the Zion Lutheran Church, 8322 Second Street, Wellington, Colorado, at 11 a.m., Wednesday November 2, 2022. A luncheon will be served in the fellowship hall from 12-2, followed by interment of Ruth’s ashes at Roselawn Cemetery, 2718 E. Mulberry Street, Fort Collins, Colorado, at 2:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that any memorials made in Ruth’s honor be in care of Zion Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 417, Wellington, Colorado 80549. Flowers may be sent to the church, 8322 Second Street, Wellington, Colorado.
