Ruth M. Rehwalt

August 23, 1908 - November 11, 2011

RUTH M. REHWALT Aug. 23, 1908 - Nov. 11, 2011 “Poor little Ruthie probably won’t live very long.” -- Words she overheard as a small child. Ruth M. Rehwalt passed away peacefully on November 11, 2011 at the age of 103. She was born on August 23, 1908 to Anna Borchers Conzelmann and George Conzelmann in a house on the property that is now the wrecking yard along the highway. Her mother died when she was two months old, leaving her father with the infant Ruth and slightly older brother, Richard, to care for. George Conzelmann soon married Lena O’Neill, a divorced mother of 4 older children. The newly combined families lived in a house near the Conzelmann brothers’ sawmill at the end of what is now called Conzelmann Road. When Ruth was about 5, the family moved to the house and farm adjoining the Rehwalt family farm on Edy Road. Much of that property now belongs to Hawk’s View Winery. Ruth attended St. Paul’s Lutheran School, Middleton Grade School and graduated from Newberg High School in 1927. Her first date with neighbor Ed Rehwalt when she was 16 was to attend a rodeo. They were married in 1930 on her 22nd birthday. That marriage lasted for 63 years until Ed’s death at age 93 in 1993. Ed and Ruth both worked hard to make the Rehwalt’s 40 acre farm a success. In the early years they raised hay, grain and berries and beginning in the 1950’s Ed operated a dairy farm supplying grade A milk to the Portland market. Ruth’s main focus in life was caring for her family, working hard and doing for others. She always had large vegetable and flower gardens. She enjoyed knitting, sewing and quilting, making many items as gifts for family and friends and participating in the quilting group at St. Paul Lutheran making quilts for Lutheran World Relief. She was a life-long member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church where her grandfather, Henry Borchers, was a founding member. Ruth lived in her home on the farm on Edy Road until she was 97. For the last 6 years she’s been a resident of Farmington Square in Tualatin. She is survived by her children: James (Esther) Rehwalt of Pasco, WA, June (Gary) Brusse of Santa Barbara, CA, and Dennis (Margaret) Rehwalt of Nine Mile Falls, WA. She is also survived by her grandchildren Keith, Kay, Karl, Lori, Shelley, Devon and Eric and her great-grandchildren Tiffany, AJ, Kaitlin, Cassie, Kaly, Sydney, JT, Jessica, Angelena, Anna, Holly and Wyatt. Memorial service will be at St. Paul Lutheran Church on November 19 at 11:00 a.m. Graveside service in St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery will be at 10:30 a.m.