Ruth E. (Donahue) Loehr

Loehr (Donahue), Ruth E., 87, passed away Saturday, June 18, 2011. Born July 25, 1923. She was a retired secretary for Star Lumber Supply and is survived by husband, Edward; daughter Jackie Donahue, Wichita; and son, Alan Donahue, Evanston, IL. Family Visitation 6 PM Tuesday, June 21 with Rosary to follow at 7PM at Downing Lahey East Chapel, 6555 E. Central. Funeral Mass 10:30 AM Wednesday, June 22 at St. Anne Catholic Church, 2801 S. Seneca, with burial to follow at Calvary Cemetery. She is preceded in death by husband, John C. Donahue; brothers, Charles, Clyde, Clinton, and Dale Aldridge; and sisters, Dorothy H. Morton and Ethel M. Ridgway. Always impatient to get going, Ruth surprised her parents Harry E. and Anna E. Aldridge by being born in the elevator of the Emporia hospital on the way to the delivery room. She moved to Wichita in 1942 after a year of college classes at Emporia State Teachers College. In Wichita she joined the war effort assembling aircraft parts for John Weitzel, Inc. After the war she met her future husband, John while waitressing at the Drive-In Market. Together they raised their two children and after the death of John in 1966 she began work at Star Lumber. In 1974 Ruth met and married her husband, Edward. She and Eddie designed and built their dream home in 1979. Their extensive travels together took them to nearly all of the U.S. National Parks and to Canada, Mexico, and Europe. With retirement she found time for volunteering (primarily with St. Francis Hospital), gardening, and her collections of lions and miniature shoes. She spent her last years with Ed at Sedgwick Plaza. In lieu of flowers, memorials have been established with St. Anne Catholic Church and the Arthritis Foundation of Kansas, 1999 N. Amidon, #105, Wichita, KS 67203-2122. Family Visitation 6 PM Tuesday, June 21 with Rosary to follow at 7PM at Downing Lahey East Chapel, 6555 E. Central.