Noel: Since I (Ruby) am writing this, I say he was a very handsome, hard-working, middle-aged man. He had more hair than he has today. He never gave up on a task but pursued it to the end, always doing his best. He served the Lord wholeheartedly and spent hours in God’s Word each day. He loved serving God in whatever task was given to him. He was a great Dad, taking time for the boys and me. He loved to go camping, so we spent most of our vacations camping in Colorado. We started with tent camping, then pop-up camping, and shared many great memories. He conquered 14,000-foot Longs Peak at age 50, the first time since high school…. that was his dream. One hiker on the trail saw his body size and told him he would never make it…Noel proved him wrong and made it two and a half times after that (of course, I made it the half time)
At the time he was 50, he was serving Calvary Lutheran in Omaha, Nebraska. We had been happily married for twenty-eight years, with four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. They brought much joy to our lives. Noel was a great handyman and did projects around our home. At that age he built our sunroom on the west side. He would come home from late church meetings and begin working until about midnight on this project. This enabled us to accommodate more family and friends for dinner and parties. He did a great job. During this age we did our daily walk for exercise. I would encourage him to walk with me to Hy-Vee on Mondays, and we would have a 99-cent breakfast and walk home again…weight loss?? I joined a ladies’ exercise group.
I (Ruby) cared for the family and was involved in Bible studies at church. I played piano and organ for our services. I loved to visit and encourage old people and still do that to this day. I have always given piano lessons wherever we’ve lived. It’s been a joy to see some students develop a love for music. It was a blessing to give some of our grandchildren lessons as well. I sold Tupperware when I was around 50. Both Noel and I love yard work and find the time to make our yard look well kept. We are good partners, and I always say I love to make my backyard look like a “walk in the woods.”
God has been good to us, and we are richly Blessed as we are now in our 80s.