Tuesday, December 13th, 2022
Ruth Sites
Ruth I. Sites went home to be with Jesus on December 9, 2022.
She was born March 16, 1922 to Frank and Bertha C. (Brush) Zizelman in Mercer County.
Ruth and her two brothers, Jim and Dan (Phyllis), grew up on the family farm. She helped with the farming, livestock, gardening, canning, and the honey harvest. In her lifetime she saw farming done with horses change over time to the farm equipment seen today. She often remarked that her mom and dad courted in a horse and buggy.
Ruth learned to hang wallpaper for people, and it was when she was hanging wallpaper in his family's home that she met Snowden Sites.They married on Christmas in 1946, honeymooning with relatives in West Virginia, with Snowden's mother accompanying them.
They had four children, David (Anita), Nan (John) Wylie, Lorrie (Robert) Shreve, and Lou Ann. They enjoyed watching their seven grandchildren marry and have families of their own, with sixteen great grandchildren. They farmed and had dairy cattle and other livestock. Ruth tended to a huge garden and preserved food for the family. She was a Sunday School teacher at St. John's Lutheran Church and was active in the women's group there. They quilted and made blankets to send overseas.
Ruth made clothes for the family.and beautiful quilts on a quilting frame made by her father. She was a 4-H advisor for the Snappy Snippers 4-H club where her girls were all members with summer projects to take to the county fair. She worked at Middendorf's stockyard clerking sales. In later years she and Snowden volunteered at the Senior Center in Celina and she was named the Outstanding Senior Volunteer in 1992. In 2001 Ruth was named the Outstanding Senior Citizen of Mercer County. She continued to support the Senior Center with floral contributions to their garage sales.
Ruth's parents, husband, brother Jim, and grandson Justin preceded her in death. She eventually moved into Miller Place in Celina where she has been lovingly cared for since 2013. She tended an outside garden and nurtured her plant collection inside. She was blessed with many friends and a loving church family. She let everyone know she was ready to "go home" and be with her Heavenly Father and her loved ones waiting for her there. Ruth's steadfast faith throughout her life was the legacy she left to her family.
Visitation will begin at 9:00 am Saturday, December 17, 2022 at St. John's Lutheran Church, Hopewell Township. The funeral service will follow at 11:00 at the church. Burial will be at the Mercer Memorial Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made in Ruth's name to St. John's Lutheran Church, Hopewell Township, or the Mercer County Council on Aging.
Online condolences may be shared at www.ketchamripley.com.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Ketcham Ripley Funeral Home, 111 W. First St., Rockford, OH 45882.
