Ruth Leone Rinehart

Ruth Leone Rinehart, of Chelan, Washington, passed away on Feb. 13, a day before her 85th birthday, shortly after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was surrounded by her children and passed peacefully at home with her beloved husband and son at her bedside. Ruth was a Valentine's Day baby, born in 1938 to Gladys and Charles Reese in Williamston, Michigan. After graduating from Williamston High School in 1956, Ruth enrolled in Mercy Central School of Nursing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. RN diploma in hand, she worked briefly in St. Paul, Minnesota, before returning to Williamston in 1960 to marry her high school sweetheart, Delbert Rinehart, for whom she had promised to wait until he was discharged from the Air Force. They returned to St. Paul, where she resumed working as a nurse until the birth of their first child, David. She became a stay-at-home mom, having two more children, Daniel and Delece. Del’s job took them to Sundance, Wyoming, where their last child, Darrell, was born. After short stops in Great Falls and Glasgow, Montana, Ruth and her family settled down on a small farm 13 miles outside Opheim, Montana. It was so rural, Ruth would haul the kids to the bus stop in a trailer behind her snowmobile, ensuring they got on the bus safely during severe winters.