Ruth O'Day

Ruth Augusta (Hartwig) O'Day was born on January 31, 1920, near Dunlap, Iowa in the Galland's Grove area to Amil and Mary (Jones) Hartwig. She attended Mill Creek and #5 Country Schools. On March 21, 1937, Ruth married Dell O'Day at the Lutheran Church's parsonage in Harlan, Iowa. The couple farmed in the Galland's Grove area on Dell's family farm. They moved into Dunlap in 1974.

Ruth was a member of the St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Altar Society and the Galland's Grove Neighborhood Club. She always carried a deck of cards in her purse so she would be ready to play euchre at a moments notice. She liked to sew; she always had a big garden and was a wonderful cook. Ruth devoted 18 years to taking care of her daughter, Shelly.

Ruth died on Saturday, February 9, 2013, at the Dunlap Nursing and Rehab Center in Dunlap, Iowa at the age of 93 years and nine days.

Ruth was preceded in death by her parents; an infant daughter, Mary Patricia and daughter Shelly ~ she was 18 years old and had cerebral palsy; husband, Dell O'Day on October 21, 2006; son-in-law, Kenny Wilke; brother, Harold Hartwig; and three sisters, Gladys Harper, Helen Mahlberg and Edith Jenkins. She is survived by her three children, Bill O'Day and his wife Bonnie of Dunlap, Iowa, Peggy Wilke of Omaha, Nebraska and Pat and her husband Gary Schmidt of Harlan, Iowa; nine grandchildren; 21 great grandchildren; nine great-great grandchildren; sister-in-law, Rita Hartwig of Dunlap, Iowa; and many other relatives and friends.