1914
Ruth
2009
Ruth Hildegarde Beck
October 23, 1914 — October 16, 2009
Ruth Hildegarde Kjendalen was born October 23, 1914, the middle child of Henry and Alma Kjendalen in Scandinavia, Wisconsin. She was baptized into Christ at the Scandinavia Lutheran Church. Later, when the family lived in Iola, WI, the pastor heard that several of his confirmation students had attended a pre-prom dance. He grilled Ruth and a few other teens about it in the hallway of the parsonage. He did not allow some of them to be confirmed, but Ruth was, at Our Savior Lutheran Church.
Ruth had a lifelong love affair with music. Her chance to learn piano came when the Rev. A. O. Odegaard's wife, Amanda, gave Ruth lessons so she could help her with Bible School. Ruth's hymn-loving mother would encourage practice with, "Oh please play it again, Ruth." After high school in Iola, Ruth attended Stevens Point Teachers College, learning to play flute in the band and paying for her education by serving as housekeeper and companion for a local doctor's
family. Later as a teacher in her home town she gave piano lessons and led children's choirs that included children of the Rev. Agnar Tanner, whose daughter, Alice (Govig), became her life-long friend.
Ruth's father had gone to bed at age fifty with "crippling arthritis" so Ruth had stayed home to help the family. During this time one of her life-changing experiences was a drive to California with four other young women to attend the 1939 Luther League convention. (They picked up hitchhiking GIs to help them change flat tires.) The convention was followed by a Choral Union under the direction of F. Melius Christiansen. Ruth was chosen to sing in his inner choir, and Christiansen even had her direct the choir. She put that experience to good use later.
When Ruth went to visit her double cousin Mildred (their mothers had married brothers), who was working at a farm near Milwaukee, she met a young Norwegian immigrant who was finding his way in his new country. The friendship of Harold and Ruth eventually became a courtship, and when the time came, Ruth (against her mother's wishes) chose to leave home, marry Harold, and move to Burlington where Harold ran a grocery store, a Gamble store, and many other ventures. Norway was occupied by Germany during the war and Harold, even though thirty-six, enlisted, serving in the Navy. This moved the couple to California and eventually to Bremerton where he was discharged after the war.
In Seattle, the Becks became part of the Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church community, but shortly after John was born in 1949 the family moved to Marysville, WA. Ruth stayed home with the baby and helped managed the egg route, the strawberry farm, and other enterprises. Harold eventually found work building trailers and boats, and Ruth went back to teaching. Given the opportunity, Harold and Ruth adopted son Paul when he was only seven days old. A large tumor and subsequent surgery precluded further children.
As she had in her home congregation in Iola, Ruth started a children's choir at Bethlehem
Lutheran Church in Marysville, eventually filling the chancel every Sunday with children singing one- and two-part hymns. Her choirs traveled to Seattle for appearances on TV and combined concerts with other church choirs. She also served for a time as church organist.
The small farm at Sunnyside required lots of work, teaching was a major enterprise, and when pressed by school officials to finish a four-year degree, Ruth drove to Bellingham daily to maintain her teaching certificate and receive her B.A. When Harold and Ruth moved to the Tulalip Reservation outside of Marysville in 1966 the house remodeling began again, and Ruth began to teach at Tulalip Elementary where her work with the families on the reservation won her respect from the native people she served.
A move to the neighborhood of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma brought the Becks close to celebrations of their Norwegian heritage, lots of concerts, and a campus great for taking walks. They joined Trinity Lutheran (Parkland), and both became active in ministry, especially with children at the preschool and kindergarten. Soon Ruth (with Harold's help) had started a
Norwegian "Barna Kor" or children's choir. She also became a music substitute teacher for the Franklin Pierce School District and loved that work until she was seventy-nine. Ruth and Harold were active in Norlandslaget and Normanna Male Chorus, and they were often called upon for duets. Ruth's ability to sit at the piano and play the old favorites by ear made her the toast of many gatherings.
Ruth and Harold loved to travel, and they visited son Paul and his partner Dr. John Hall several times in Hawaii. The whole family travelled to Iowa for their fiftieth anniversary cruise up the Mississippi on a sternwheeler. Ruth had been to Norway with Harold, spending the winter of 1947 getting to know her in-laws. Again in 1966 the family spent the summer abroad. And
finally in May 1980 Harold and Ruth flew to Oslo as Mt. St. Helens was exploding.
After Harold's death in 1992, Ruth moved to Iowa and lived in Clear Lake near son John, who was serving a church as pastor. There she again rounded up the children to sing. She taught grandson Jordan (and Ingrid Narum) enough Norwegian so that they could sing at the local chapter for the Sons of Norway. She was tremendously proud of her one grandson and cared for him, drove him to lessons, and watched him whenever she could.
Later, when the family moved to Portland in 1997, Ruth came along and was a devoted
grandmother, attending as many of Jordan's performances as possible as he appeared in plays and concerts in the Portland Schools. Sharing son John with new daughter-in-law Rev. Joan Beck was not always easy for Ruth, but she was regularly welcomed in their home. When Ruth became ill, Joan's daughters Erin and Anni both helped care for her in a variety of ways. In Portland she lived independently until, after a bout with cancer and a stint in hospice, she required greater
assistance and was placed in an adult foster care residence. During the last summer of her life, she lived in John's and Joan's home with Jordan as her primary caregiver.
In her last few years Ruth would be buoyed by being remembered by her students (now adults) for whom she had been an important mentor. She was a fixture at St. Timothy Lutheran, slipping chocolate to the children who came to see her. She enjoyed slipping the chocolate M&Ms to
herself, for that matter, and relished the Norwegian rice pudding she ate for supper every day. Ruth loved to brag about her family, and to recall the blessings she had received from her Savior. "I count my blessings," she would half-say, half-sing, "count them one by one…."
But Ruth was ready for God to take her home. She died peacefully October 16, 2009, with
congestive heart failure and a bowel obstruction. She was preceded in death by her older brother Palmer (Hudson, IN) and is survived by her younger sister Helen (Dixon, IL). She is also
survived by her sons John (Portland, OR) and Paul (Honolulu, HI), and grandson Jordan (Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA).
We thank God for her life and presence among us.
Ruth had a lifelong love affair with music. Her chance to learn piano came when the Rev. A. O. Odegaard's wife, Amanda, gave Ruth lessons so she could help her with Bible School. Ruth's hymn-loving mother would encourage practice with, "Oh please play it again, Ruth." After high school in Iola, Ruth attended Stevens Point Teachers College, learning to play flute in the band and paying for her education by serving as housekeeper and companion for a local doctor's
family. Later as a teacher in her home town she gave piano lessons and led children's choirs that included children of the Rev. Agnar Tanner, whose daughter, Alice (Govig), became her life-long friend.
Ruth's father had gone to bed at age fifty with "crippling arthritis" so Ruth had stayed home to help the family. During this time one of her life-changing experiences was a drive to California with four other young women to attend the 1939 Luther League convention. (They picked up hitchhiking GIs to help them change flat tires.) The convention was followed by a Choral Union under the direction of F. Melius Christiansen. Ruth was chosen to sing in his inner choir, and Christiansen even had her direct the choir. She put that experience to good use later.
When Ruth went to visit her double cousin Mildred (their mothers had married brothers), who was working at a farm near Milwaukee, she met a young Norwegian immigrant who was finding his way in his new country. The friendship of Harold and Ruth eventually became a courtship, and when the time came, Ruth (against her mother's wishes) chose to leave home, marry Harold, and move to Burlington where Harold ran a grocery store, a Gamble store, and many other ventures. Norway was occupied by Germany during the war and Harold, even though thirty-six, enlisted, serving in the Navy. This moved the couple to California and eventually to Bremerton where he was discharged after the war.
In Seattle, the Becks became part of the Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church community, but shortly after John was born in 1949 the family moved to Marysville, WA. Ruth stayed home with the baby and helped managed the egg route, the strawberry farm, and other enterprises. Harold eventually found work building trailers and boats, and Ruth went back to teaching. Given the opportunity, Harold and Ruth adopted son Paul when he was only seven days old. A large tumor and subsequent surgery precluded further children.
As she had in her home congregation in Iola, Ruth started a children's choir at Bethlehem
Lutheran Church in Marysville, eventually filling the chancel every Sunday with children singing one- and two-part hymns. Her choirs traveled to Seattle for appearances on TV and combined concerts with other church choirs. She also served for a time as church organist.
The small farm at Sunnyside required lots of work, teaching was a major enterprise, and when pressed by school officials to finish a four-year degree, Ruth drove to Bellingham daily to maintain her teaching certificate and receive her B.A. When Harold and Ruth moved to the Tulalip Reservation outside of Marysville in 1966 the house remodeling began again, and Ruth began to teach at Tulalip Elementary where her work with the families on the reservation won her respect from the native people she served.
A move to the neighborhood of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma brought the Becks close to celebrations of their Norwegian heritage, lots of concerts, and a campus great for taking walks. They joined Trinity Lutheran (Parkland), and both became active in ministry, especially with children at the preschool and kindergarten. Soon Ruth (with Harold's help) had started a
Norwegian "Barna Kor" or children's choir. She also became a music substitute teacher for the Franklin Pierce School District and loved that work until she was seventy-nine. Ruth and Harold were active in Norlandslaget and Normanna Male Chorus, and they were often called upon for duets. Ruth's ability to sit at the piano and play the old favorites by ear made her the toast of many gatherings.
Ruth and Harold loved to travel, and they visited son Paul and his partner Dr. John Hall several times in Hawaii. The whole family travelled to Iowa for their fiftieth anniversary cruise up the Mississippi on a sternwheeler. Ruth had been to Norway with Harold, spending the winter of 1947 getting to know her in-laws. Again in 1966 the family spent the summer abroad. And
finally in May 1980 Harold and Ruth flew to Oslo as Mt. St. Helens was exploding.
After Harold's death in 1992, Ruth moved to Iowa and lived in Clear Lake near son John, who was serving a church as pastor. There she again rounded up the children to sing. She taught grandson Jordan (and Ingrid Narum) enough Norwegian so that they could sing at the local chapter for the Sons of Norway. She was tremendously proud of her one grandson and cared for him, drove him to lessons, and watched him whenever she could.
Later, when the family moved to Portland in 1997, Ruth came along and was a devoted
grandmother, attending as many of Jordan's performances as possible as he appeared in plays and concerts in the Portland Schools. Sharing son John with new daughter-in-law Rev. Joan Beck was not always easy for Ruth, but she was regularly welcomed in their home. When Ruth became ill, Joan's daughters Erin and Anni both helped care for her in a variety of ways. In Portland she lived independently until, after a bout with cancer and a stint in hospice, she required greater
assistance and was placed in an adult foster care residence. During the last summer of her life, she lived in John's and Joan's home with Jordan as her primary caregiver.
In her last few years Ruth would be buoyed by being remembered by her students (now adults) for whom she had been an important mentor. She was a fixture at St. Timothy Lutheran, slipping chocolate to the children who came to see her. She enjoyed slipping the chocolate M&Ms to
herself, for that matter, and relished the Norwegian rice pudding she ate for supper every day. Ruth loved to brag about her family, and to recall the blessings she had received from her Savior. "I count my blessings," she would half-say, half-sing, "count them one by one…."
But Ruth was ready for God to take her home. She died peacefully October 16, 2009, with
congestive heart failure and a bowel obstruction. She was preceded in death by her older brother Palmer (Hudson, IN) and is survived by her younger sister Helen (Dixon, IL). She is also
survived by her sons John (Portland, OR) and Paul (Honolulu, HI), and grandson Jordan (Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA).
We thank God for her life and presence among us.
Visitation
Rose City Funeral Home
5625 Northeast Fremont Street
Portland
,
OR
US
97213-1754
Thursday, October 22, 2009, 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Funeral Service
Trinity Lutheran Church
12115 Park Avenue South
Tacoma
,
WA
US
98444
Friday, October 23, 2009, 11:00 AM
Memorial Service
St. Timothy Lutheran Church
14500 Southeast Powell Boulevard
Portland
,
OR
US
97236
Sunday, November 1, 2009, 4:00 PM
Cemetery
Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
13600 8th Avenue East
Tacoma
,
WA
US
98444
Friday, October 23, 2009, 12:30 PM
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