Ruth Shafer Luding

Ruth Shafer Luding, 82, passed away at the Hospice House in Tacoma, Wash., on June 14, 2008, after a lingering illness.

She was born in Whitefish on Feb. 5, 1926, to Arnold and Anna Shafer. She was a resident of Federal Way, Wash., and enjoyed spending time at her condo at the Whitefish Lake Lodge.

Ruth graduated in 1944 from Whitefish High School. She worked in Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Shelby before marrying Calvin Luding on Dec. 28, 1948, in Whitefish after the war. The couple moved to upstate New York where their only child, Sandra, was born in Cooperstown on Dec. 31, 1953.

The family moved to Longview, Wash., where her husband took employment with Weyerhaeuser and lived there until 1971, when they moved to Federal Way.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Arnold and Anna Shafer; sister Loretta Markus; half-sister Lynn White; and half brother Robert Shafer.

She is survived by Calvin, her husband of 59 years; daughter Sandra, of Seattle; half-sister Judy Bates, of Bakersfield, Calif.; nieces Laurie Cripe, Marsha Ingraham and Susan Richardson, of Whitefish; and nephew Robert Markus, of Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

The family suggests memorials may be made to the Franciscan Hospice Foundation, P.O. Box 1502, Tacoma WA 98401-9836.

A private family service was held, as well as a celebration of her life gathering, at her residence in Federal Way.