Ruth L. Carter

FRENCHTOWN – Ruth L. Carter, 93, of Frenchtown, passed away peacefully at St. Patrick Hospital on Sunday, April 14, 2013, of natural causes. She was surrounded by her family.

Ruth was born on Dec. 23, 1919, in Lee County near Donnellson, Iowa, to Henry and Hilda (Galle) Sprenger. The oldest of 11 children, she grew up on the family farm and attended Brush College elementary school and Donnellson High School.

After graduation, Ruth worked for several years for businesses in southeast Iowa including the Sheaffer Pen Company. During World War II, she worked in a factory in Southern California.

On Sept. 9, 1944, she married her Marine sweetheart, Richard (Dick) Carter, in Santa Ana, Calif. They lived briefly in California and Iowa, before settling in western Montana. Since 1978, she has lived in the house they built near Frenchtown. He preceded her in death on Dec. 14, 2010.

Ruth enjoyed traveling with her husband, spending time outdoors, gardening, cooking, making quilts, and watching her grandchildren and great- grandchildren grow. She was blessed with kind and caring neighbors and good friends who enriched her life. Ruth was known for her gracious and generous nature, kindness, and homemade molasses cookies. She delighted in spying the first buttercups each spring. Her spirituality was evident in how she lived her life and treated others.

Survivors include two sons, Michael (Vickie) Carter of Phoenix, and Bruce (Tracey Wiese) Carter of Twisp, Wash.; five daughters, Ann Band of Spokane, Linda (John) Jay of Columbia Falls, Nancy Joscelyn of Poplar, Judy (Carl) Schiffeler of Snohomish, Wash., and Jean Carter of Missoula; nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by two brothers, Raymond Sprenger of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Robert (Sue) Sprenger of Chambersburg, Pa.; five sisters, Fern Wagle of Sturgis, Mich., Martha (Eldon) Sheneman of Valley Forge, Pa., Dorothy Sprenger of Boone, Iowa, Nancy Stuekerjuergen of West Point, Iowa, and Isla Stuetelberg of Atlantic, Iowa; three sisters-in-law, Erma Sprenger of Donnellson, Iowa, Ida Sprenger of Fort Madison, Iowa, and Virginia Maas, Mount Prospect, Ill. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; two brothers, Walter Sprenger and Carroll Sprenger; and three in-laws, Paul Stuekerjuergen, Fred Stuetelberg and Bonnie Sprenger.

Her family is planning a service and memorial celebration for the weekend of May 18-19. Her ashes will be placed beside those of her husband's in a shared vault at the Western Montana State Veterans Cemetery in Missoula.

Memorials may be made to the Missoula Aging Services' Meals on Wheels program at 337 Stephens Ave., Missoula, MT 59801.

Garden City Funeral Home and Crematory conducted her cremation.

Read Ruth Carter's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.