Ruth Ida Eckert

“… Ruth said, ‘… (W)here you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.’” Ruth 1:16-17a, RSV

Ruth Ida (Hoffman) Eckert, our mother, grandmother, great-grandma, friend and saint, was reunited with her family in Heaven on October 24, 2011.

She was born in Evansville, IN, on New Years Eve, 1923, the youngest of nine children. She attended Catholic schools, graduating Reitz Memorial High School in Evansville in 1941.

Ruth served as a cadet nurse in the U.S. Army in World War II, caring for wounded service members returning state-side. She completed her nurses training and worked several years at St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville, primarily in the maternity department.

On Memorial Day, 1954, she met the man of her dreams, James Christopher Eckert. They married on November 13 of that year, soon settling in Bedford, IN. Ruth made a home for her family while her Jim worked at Crane NAD as a mechanical engineer.

In August of 1964, Jim and Ruth moved their family to Bremerton when he was offered a position at what is now Sub Base Bangor. Jim worked there until his death in 1976.

Ruth continued the service she began with Jim to their home parish, Our Lady Star of the Sea, serving many years as parish secretary, extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, on many committees and as a volunteer for many events and fundraisers. She will especially be remembered for her work on the S.C.O.P.E. auction, which raised funds for the parish multi-purpose facility.

Ruth is with her Savior, Jesus Christ, and is reunited with her beloved Jim; her parents, Edward and Margaret Hoffman; brothers Edward, Philip, Bernard and Vincent, and sisters Mary Louise, Margaret, Gertrude, and Helen. She is survived by sons Charles, John (Janet), Joseph (Elaine), and Anthony of Bremerton and William (Barbara) of Tacoma; and daughters Mary Whitney (Brian) of Beaverton, OR; Elaine Hustead (Timothy) of Fall City, WA; and Juliana Dougan (Kelly) of Rohnert Park, CA. She will be missed by all of us, including 14 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren with 2 due early next year, nieces, nephews and so many friends she loved as family.

Ruth received two gifts from her Savior that blessed her family more than any others: her capacity for love and her gift for forgiveness. Physically, her heart was weak for years, but it kept beating until she gave us all that the Lord had bestowed on her to pass on to us.

Ruth’s Mass of Christian Burial will be on November 4, 2011 at 11:00 am at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, 500 Veneta Ave. in Bremerton, followed by a reception honoring her life. A rosary will be recited at 10:30 am. A visitation will be held Friday, November 4, 2011, at 2:00 p.m. at Miller-Woodlawn "Chapel on the Hill" in Bremerton. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations would be made to Hospice of Kitsap County Care Center, Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish, Bremerton, WA; or the Alzheimer’s Foundation.