Ruth (Koehler) Backus |
| Posted 2008-05-11 by Judy Wight Branson |
| The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Monday, May 5, 2008 Ruth Koehler Backus, 89, passed away on May 1, 2008, at Prescott Samaritan Village. She had been a Prescott resident since 1973 when she moved here in retirement from her longtime home in Pearl River, New York. Her husband, Edward James Backus, a retired microbiologist, died in December 1998 after 58 blissful years of marriage to Ruth. She lived at the Willow Wind assisted living residence from 1999 until 2006. The middle child of three born to Arthur Koehler and Ethelyn Smith Koehler, Ruth Elizabeth Koehler entered this world on August 31, 1918, in Madison, Wis. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1940 with a B.S. degree in Botany. The same week as she graduated, she married her sweetheart and graduate assistant instructor, Ed Backus, who was a Ph.D. candidate in Microbiology at the time. Entirely typical of their lifestyles, they spent their honeymoon camping in upstate Wisconsin and Minnesota, digging for mushrooms, delighting in the birdlife, hiking and enjoying the nature that had attracted them to each other in the first place. In addition to her husband, Ruth was predeceased in death by her parents, her sister Kathryn (died 2004) and granddaughter Laura (died 1995). She is survived by her sons Richard (and wife Lisa Lynn) and Frederick (and wife Anita); six grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; her brother George (and wife Margie); two nieces and four nephews. Graveside services will be at noon Tuesday, May 6, 2008, at Heritage Memorial Park in Dewey, Arizona. Heritage Mortuary assisted the family with final arrangements. Information provided by survivors. |
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