A memorial service for Ruth Helen (Wallen) Bruess will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, July 25, 2014, at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Benson, Minnesota, with Rev. Dennis McManus officiating. Visitation will be held for one hour prior to the service at the church. On July 13, 2014, we lost a very special person. Ruth passed away peacefully at the Glenwood Retirement Village in Glenwood, Minnesota. Ruth Helen (Wallen) Bruess was born on December 9, 1935, to Millard Cornelius and Clara Mathilda (Emblem) Wallen in Clarkfield, Minnesota. She was baptized and confirmed at Israel Lutheran Church, grew up on the family farm, and graduated from Clarkfield High School. On September 10, 1955, Ruth married the love of her life, Elroy Harlan Bruess, Jr., at Israel Lutheran Church in Clarkfield. They made their home in Benson for over 57 years and there they raised their family of four children. Ruth worked at the music store in Montevideo, the ASCS office in Benson, and at the Benson Senior High School as a teacher's aide and as a secretary in the Principal's office. She was an active member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church where she taught Sunday school, directed children's Christmas programs, and sang in the choir and as a soloist. She loved spending time with her husband and family, traveling, decorating for the holidays, shopping, and attending arts and crafts fairs. Ruth was a child of God; loving and devoted wife of Elroy; wonderful mother to Greg (Isabela) Bruess, Patty (Mark) Schreck, Dan (Dawn) Bruess, and Tammy Bruess; and fun-loving grandma to Jill and Jon Schreck, Sara, Ian, Anna, Alexander and Elena Bruess. She was preceded in death by her husband, Elroy Bruess, Jr., on July 18, 2013; her parents, Millard and Clara Wallen; and sister, Verna Sundlee. Let us thank God for the gift He gave us through Ruth. We will all miss her kind and loving heart, great smile, and wonderful sense of humor. Our lives have changed forever, but we have peace knowing that she has been reunited with her family, friends and her beloved husband, Junior.
