BALLENGER, Ruth Cora (Crowell) - b. August 30, 1917 - d. December 18, 2011

[patyrn]

Ruth Cora Ballenger, 94, of Wamego, Kansas and formerly of Longton and Humboldt, Kansas, passed away Sunday, December 18, 2011 at the Westmoreland Community Care Home.  Ruth was born August 30, 1917 in Humboldt, South Dakota, the daughter of Bruce H. and Oma (Flesher) Crowell.

She moved with her family to Kansas in 1928, attending Oak Valley grade school and living in the Longton, Kansas area for 22 years and Humboldt, Kansas for 45 years, prior to moving to Wamego, Kansas in 2006.  She married Joseph Oscar Ballenger on December 30, 1937. 

Ruth was a homemaker and active in the communities she lived in.  She was a member of the 1st Baptist Church of Longton for many years.  Ruth enjoyed meeting her friends for coffee, sewing, bowling, and going on rides in the car.  She enjoyed gardening and canning and was a very good cook.  She especially loved spending time wit the grandkids, taking them fishing and having them stay at her home in the summers.

Survivors include her two sons Josepn "Pete" Ballenger and wife, Janice of Overbrook, Kansas and Ronald "Lynn" Ballenger and wife, Cindy of Wamego, Kansas; one son-in-law, Mike Weilert and wife, Colleen of Wamego, Kansas; one twin brother, Glenn Crowell of Independence, Kansas; nine grandchildren, five step-grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, and 9 step-great-grandchildren.  She was preceded in death by her husband; her nine siblings, Charles, Olin, Lura, Max, Myra, Madge, Ralph, Vera, and Neil; her daughter, Myra "Colleen"; a daughter-in-law, Ann Ballenger; and one step-grandson.

Funeral services for Mrs. Ballenger will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, December 22, 2011 at the 1st Baptist Church in Longton, Kansas.  Burial will follow at the Longton Cemetery.  She will lie in state beginning at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at the Stewart Funeral Home, 4370 Satzer Road & Highway 24, Wamego, Kansas where the family will greet friends during a visitation from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.  In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the 1st Baptist Church in Longton, Kansas or to the Alzheimer's Association, and may be left in care of the Stewart Funeral Home, P.O. Box 48, Wamego, Kansas 66547.

(taken from the Stewart Funeral Home website)