Ruth Angeline Timm age 92 of Watkins Glen, NY, formerly of Wood Lake, MN, passed away Saturday, August 19, 2017 at her home. Memorial Services will be held 2:00 p.m. Saturday, November 4 at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Posen Township. Visitation will be one hour prior to services at the church. Interment will follow in St. Luke’s Lutheran Cemetery. Memorials are preferred to St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Posen Township. Stephens Funeral Service – Redwood Valley Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
Ruth Angeline Timm was born on January 19, 1925 in Wood Lake, MN to Walter and Angeline Wenholz. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Posen Township. Growing up on a farm, Ruth helped her family plow and plant the fields, harvest and can the garden bounty, gather eggs, and butcher and dress chickens. Together, her family saw the advent of indoor plumbing and rural electrification, and they survived the dust bowl and Great Depression.
Ruth received her early education at St. Luke’s Parochial School and Wood Lake High where she played percussion in the marching band and was salutatorian of the class of 1942. She and Mae Schmidt went to Minneapolis Business College and then she worked in Minneapolis. In 1944 Ruth moved with her family to southern California. After the war they returned to Minnesota and Ruth worked in Redwood Falls where she met her first husband Glen St. Julien. They married in California in 1950 and had three children. Ruth worked alongside her husband in his businesses, but after a series of unfortunate events she divorced Glen in 1969.
She loved her children more than anything in the world. Working in accounting, Ruth valiantly raised and supported them on her own. Running a modified boarding house to pay the mortgage, she provided a refuge and was a surrogate mother for a number of young men as well. Ruth worked hard and never gave in to despair; she did what had to be done, navigating a messy, challenging, imperfect life with resilience and gratitude.
She continued to pursue higher education while living in California including earning her Associate Degree at Cypress College and working toward her Bachelors at CSU Fullerton. She was also a leader in the local Soroptimist service club.
In 1989 Ruth married her lifetime friend, Howard Timm and lived in Long Beach, California until both retired in 1991. Howard and Ruth had grown up on neighboring farms and moved to Wood Lake, MN on retirement, and then on to Spencer, Iowa to help Howard’s daughters start a fish farm. They enjoyed being near their Midwestern families yet traveled extensively, camping in their truck camper. They lived in Spencer until Howard’s death in 2003. Ruth lived briefly with her older sister Lucille and husband Martin Bahn, then in 2004 settled in with her son Dell and his wife Nancy in Watkins Glen, NY where she lived the next 13 years. She was able to participate in the lives of three of her grandchildren and she especially appreciated the companionship of her granddaughter Hannah. She died at home on August 19, 2017.
She is survived by sisters, Connie Schrupp (Dick) of Waverly IA, Nona Anderson of Spicer, MN and brother Walter Wenholz (Sandra) of Minneapolis, MN. She is also survived by three children, nine grandchildren, and six great grandchildren: son Glenn St. Julien (Ivonne) of Orange, CA and their daughters Alexis and Natasha Hall, daughter Deborah St. Julien (Gary) of San Jose, CA and their daughters Jessica Coffrin-St. Julien of NYC, NY and Claire Coffrin-St. Julien of San Carlos, CA, son Dell St. Julien (Nancy) of Watkins Glen, NY, and their five children and six grandchildren, Rebecca St. Julien (Saadeh Saadeh) and their children Noura and Elias of Beirut, Lebanon, Philip St. Julien (Tammi) and their children Luke, Ryan, Eric and Alex of Erie, PA, and James, Rachel and Hannah St. Julien of Watkins Glen, NY. When Ruth married Howard she embraced and was embraced by his family as well. Survivors include Becky Timm and Laura Timm, Andy Gerodias (Amanda plus children Morgan and Juliana), George Gerodias, Ellen Holmberg (Jerry), Lucas and Christopher Bauer.
Ruth was predeceased by her sisters, Lucille Bahn and Betty Timm.