Ruth Ann Lefeber

Ruth Ann Lefeber, age 71, of Cassville, WI passed away unexpectedly in her home on July 5, 2021. Born on September 19, 1949, in Burlington, WI, Ruth was the eldest daughter of Rose and Ralph Stern. Ruth attended college at UW-Whitewater for Elementary Education and became a teacher. She married David Lefeber in April 1985 and together had two children, Ronna and Wade. She was also a proud stepmother to Chad, Dana, Jeanna, and Judd. Ruth was an amazing mother, who was always there for her children. When the kids were younger, she attended all their school events and you could see her sitting on the bleachers cheering them on. She made sure all Birthdays were celebrated and made sure we had a cake. Christmas was always a favorite holiday. She enjoyed buying gifts for loved ones (or even those she just met) and singing Christmas songs. Making Brown Bear Christmas cookies was a family tradition.
Ruth was a proud grandmother and great grandmother. If you couldn’t tell it by the smile on her face, you could tell by her “proud grandmother” t-shirt she wore frequently. She had 13 grandkids and great grandkids. Ruth made it a weekend ritual to visit Ronna’s family on Saturdays. She would bring Vincent a bag of saltine crackers because she knew he liked them and made sure there was a stash of diapers for the baby. Ruth couldn’t wait to hold the youngest grandchild, Theodore. It was the highlight of her visit. In fact, she wouldn’t let him go. She entertained the grandkids by playing games, letting them crawl on her and reading stories. Ruth would let her granddaughter, Kaitlyn, paint her nails even though she wasn’t much of a makeup wearing, have nails done type of woman. She simply enjoyed spending time and talking with her older grandchildren as well.
Ruth devoted over 30 years of her life to teaching children at the Potosi Public Elementary School. She truly loved teaching and looked forward to seeing her students/colleagues every day until she retired. She introduced many fun activities to the students. The Medieval Banquet and Outdoor Ed were two of her favorites. Alongside teaching, she and her husband owned a flower, fruit, and berry farm. Every Saturday, she would sell produce at the Capitol in Madison. Ruth really enjoyed going there. She was known as the “Blueberry Lady” and wore her blueberry shirt during blueberry season. She loved flowers, but what she enjoyed most about the market was meeting new people and making friends.
Ruth was the kindest person you’ll ever meet. She never talked bad about anyone, except former President Trump. She was always willing to help others. She frequently drove one of her neighbors to appointments and would go out of her way for people, including spending years driving three hours one way to help her ailing father several times a week. She was a happy lady who was always singing, smiling and laughing. Ruth loved chocolate and she always had a stash of M&Ms or Hershey’s candy bars in her refrigerator.
Ruth will be deeply missed by her children, Ronna Evachenko (David), Wade Lefeber, Judd Lefeber (Jen), Jeanna Lefeber, Dana Kiederlen (Matt), Chad Lefeber, her brother, Richard Stern (Patty), brother-in-law, Kenneth Patnaude, her many grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friends, old colleagues, and anyone who knew her. She is now happily reunited with her beloved husband and dancing and singing in heaven with her parents and her sister Roberta Patnaude.
Memorial services will be held on Sunday, July 18, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. at Martin Schwartz Funeral Home & Crematory in Lancaster. Visitation will be held Sunday, July 18 from 1:00 p.m. until time of services at the funeral home. Cards may be mailed to 205 E Lawton St., Edgerton, WI 53534.