Anderson Funeral Home
Homeserving families for over 60 years
312 South Stone St.
Augusta, WI 54722
715-286-2222
Ruth Harden
Ruth Mae Harden passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family, after a brief struggle with lung cancer.
Ruth was born at home on September 1st, 1927, in a farmhouse in the town of Alma, Jackson County. She was the last born to Ervin and Dora (Hanusa) Kelsh. She had 3 siblings, Marjorie, Betty, and Carroll (Bud). The road going by the farm connected Humbird and Alma Center. She walked 2 miles to the Houghtenburg one-room country school for the first 2 and a half years. Her siblings couldn’t decide if she was a little sister or a menace.
In 1934, her parents decided to leave the farm, and they built a Tavern Restaurant on Highway 12 in Humbird, called the Blue Jay Inn. Her Father built and operated a blacksmith shop in the back of the Tavern. Ruth loved to go into the shop and watch her father shoe horses. Times were hard. They sold the Tavern and kept the blacksmith shop.
Moving to Humbird was a wonderful thing for Ruth, as she had the Humbird pond. It was a wonderful place to fish and in the summer her swim suit was never dry. In the winter, she ice skated on the pond and tobogganed down the hills ending up on the pond. There was also a sandstone Bluff to climb that overlooked the city. Ruth was very active in St. John’s Evangelical Reformed church in Humbird. She taught Sunday school, sang in the choir, and was Secretary of the church.
Ruth entered the Humbird School in the 3rd grade. The entire school was one building containing 1-12 grades, with each elementary classroom holding two grades. She credits her 7-8th grade teacher with having the greatest influence on her future. When she was in the 8th grade, her teacher encouraged her to enter the Federated Women’s Club Helen Mears Art Contest. She painted a picture of the train (the 400) going through Humbird, for which she won first place and her teacher took her to Green Bay to receive her Honors. She continued to paint the rest of her life, mostly with oil, usually meeting with friends at someone’s home. Ruth graduated from Humbird high school in 1945, where her mother was on the school board and presented Ruth with her diploma.
Ruth’s teacher continued to be very important in her life. Because she was so interested in sports, he wrote to UW-La Crosse, and got all the information for her matriculate and to become a teacher of Physical Fitness and Sports. She followed that path, and graduated from UW-La Crosse in 1949. Her first teaching job was in Chippewa Falls, WI.
On April 14th, 1949, two months before she graduated, she married Robert Harden from Augusta at the United Church of Christ in Fall Creek WI and their reception was held at historic Woodman’s Hall. There was such a terrible snow storm that many guests could not attend. They lived on Lake Eau Claire, and she commuted to Chippewa Falls for two years to teach Junior and Senior High physical education while Bob went to dog training school and took in dogs to train for hunting, along with raising Weimaraner puppies.
In 1952, they moved to Montana and their first child Kim was born in 1953. In 1954, Robert bought the Emanuel Meat Market in Augusta over the phone, and the family headed back to Augusta where they lived for the next 43 years. They bought 18 acres in town, a little hobby farm, where all her four beautiful children grew up. They had a horse named Sue that could drive a nice buggy and sleigh for Christmas caroling around the town.
Ruth was very active in the Augusta community. She started a Kiddie Parade in 1959, parading down Stone Street. By the third year there was great community interest withprizes provided by local merchants. She called square dances at the Legion Hall, coached the Junior High girls’ basketball team, became a WIAA referee for girls volleyball and basketball and played recreational softball on the Uniroyal team. She was an active member of the Grace Lutheran Church.
Ruth cherished her positions working in the Augusta Area School District. She taught part time in the Augusta school district as a physical education teacher and after receiving her Masters of Science degree in Guidance and Counseling from UW-Stout she became a K-12 Guidance Counselor in the Augusta Area School District. She was later asked to be the Elementary Principal, so once again she returned to school and was the principal. She retired from that position after her husband was unable to work due to his ill health.
Ruth and Bob had 11 years together after retirement and they did many things together.They had many wonderful hunting and fishing trips to Canada. She was an avid hunter– her favorite was duck hunting, which she did with her brother Bud and nephew in North Dakota every year. She hunted deer until she was 75. Ruth loved to garden and she became a certified master gardener.
Ruth was a member of several Boards, including the Eau Claire County Guidance Clinic, Augusta School Board, and she was on the Citizen’s Committee for Foster Careand Adoptive Parents for many years.
She was a natural athlete and participated in various sports her entire life. There was an archery range close to their home on lake Eau Claire, where she started to practice shooting with a traditional bow and wooden arrows. She competed in many tournaments and did well, placing fourth in the National Field Archery Association Tournament in Minneapolis in 1952.
After archery, Ruth joined the Osseo Country Club Ladies Golf League and many years later, she and Bob joined the Pine Meadow and Hickory Hills golf clubs. She was an avid tennis player, which she played well past her 88th year, where she met the most wonderful friends.
Bob passed away in 1992. In 1997 she married the Hon Karl Peplau at the Little Brown Church in the Vale in Iowa and moved to Eau Claire. They enjoyed spending winters in Sanibel Island, FL, where Ruth met several tennis players and reinvigorated her love of the sport. Karl passed away in 2006. Some years later, she attended a Humbird all-school class reunion and was reunited with her high school friend, FrancisScheffer. They were united in matrimony by the Monsignor Klimek at the Sacred HeartHospital Chapel on July 21, 2010, and they continued residence in Eau Claire.
Ruth leaves behind many who love her, including her devoted husband Frank Scheffer,and her children, Kim Kenneth (Pam) of Fall Creek WI, Jon Robert (Lynn) of Frederick MD, daughters Dr. Cynthia Louise of New York, Susan Ruth (Fulton DerrickEdwards) of River Falls WI. Grandchildren (Kim and Pam) David (Mallory), Jill, Melanie, (Jon and Lynn) Nicole Schoo (Corey), Kathyn, and (Cynthia) Julia Cumming.
Great grandchildren (David and Mallory) Alexis, Jackson, and Madelyn. And her step children Donna Platner (Tim), Debbie Rizzo (Mike), Mark Scheffer (Barb), Chuck Scheffer (Jane), along with Paul and Jeff (Marilyn) Peplau.She was preceded in death by her parents, siblings, husband Robert Harden, and husband Karl Peplau.
A visitation will be held Monday, May 29, 2017 from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Anderson Funeral Home in Augusta, and from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at Grace Lutheran Church in Augusta. Funeral services will be held at the church on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 11 AM with Rev. Jonathan Wessel officiating. Burial will be in the West Lawn Cemetery in Augusta.
Ruth's family extends their deepest thanks to the wonderful friends and caregivers she had during her illness.
