L. Ruth Schmidt

Born-September 20, 1934- and raised in Missouri, Leona Ruth (Scofield) Schmidt fell in love with the game of let’s pretend at the age of three. With an active imagination, fueled by movies, radio, and TV, she led the neighborhood kids in playing out the heroes of that time; Tarzan, Old West, and musical roles she’d encountered.

She climbed trees, swinging, then jumping from a high branch, and took daredevil sled runs. Ruth loved horseback riding, the countryside, music, and reading. She sang and danced all over the house. She began school in a one-room school house. In time, Ruth graduated from Paseo High School in Kansas City, Missouri.

When Ruth married a neighbor boy, at the tender age of 19, it was the finest choice she ever made. Together they tromped over the Old West on vacations, taking dirt switchback roads over Rocky Mountain passes, and rode mules to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Their visits to civil war battlefields, the Black Hills of Dakota, and old gold mines allowed them to share a common interest. Travels abroad included England, Paris, Hawaii’s volcano, and Alaska’s ancient ice.

As her family grew and prospered, Ruth & Co. found themselves on the East Coast. It opened new historical territory to explore, and Ruth took full advantage of it. As her children were nearing adulthood, her focus of church youth work and intricate seamstress talents gifted to many changed to writing. She at last put her dreams into action and began to write with persistence and passion; producing 15 published romance novels under two different pen names; several which were award nominated. Her book “In God’s Own Time” won a HOLT Medallion.

Returning to Missouri, in 1993, she and Charles traveled and enjoyed time with the family. Her favorite people to play let’s pretend and write stories with were her grandchildren. “The Knobby Knee Gang”, her name for them, created a bond that could only be shared between grandparents and grandchildren. Each of them will tell you about the anticipation they felt at the age of 12, when they spent time with their Nana, one on one, for the special talk.

Charles and Ruth joyously celebrated their 50th anniversary with a “sock hop” and bar-b-que; reminiscent of the time in their young lives when they met. Just a few short years later, her sweetheart passed away and Ruth began her journey of aging and dementia. During those twelve years, her family spent time with her, laughed with her, took her treats and watched the effects of vascular dementia diminish her quality of life.

Ruth danced her way into Heaven on Sunday, June 28, 2020. Her children, Charlie Schmidt and Karen Dickerson (Tom) as well as 6 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, nieces & nephews, and friends are rejoicing with her in her new life-happy that those who have gone before were there to greet her and fully knowing that we will be together again one day.