Ruth A. Rall

Ruth A. Rall, age 85 of Columbus, died on Monday, January 1, 2024 at her home at Cottonwood Senior Living in Columbus. Memorial services will be on Monday, January 8, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral and Cremation Services in Kearney. Father Charles Peek will officiate and burial will be at Kearney Cemetery. Family will greet friends 1 hour prior to services on Monday. Memorials are suggested to the family, to be designated later. Please visit www.hlmkfuneral.com to leave a tribute or message of condolence. Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral and Cremation Services are in charge of arrangements. Ruth Ann Alexander Rall was born on July 13, 1938 in Grand Island, Nebraska to Frank Alexander and Glenrose Squier Alexander. She died in Columbus, Nebraska on January 1, 2024. She married John William (Jack) Rall Jr on May 29, 1961. Ruth grew up in Grand Island, Nebraska and graduated from St. Mary’s High School in Grand Island, St. Francis School of Nursing in Grand Island, and Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Omaha. She practiced nursing and taught in several positions in Kearney and spent her last thirteen professional years working in the WIC (Women Infants Children) Program in Kearney. She loved her home on the hill at Canal Heights in Kearney where she could watch the sky, the weather, and the wildlife (deer, raccoons, wild turkeys and all sorts of other birds) as well as various horses who lived on the property. She loved deeply her grandparents, parents, and sister. She read voraciously, her favorite author of all time James Herriott, and she enjoyed others including James Patterson, James Michener, Mary Higgins Clark, and J.K. Rowling. Her passion for animals lasted her entire life. It was she who opened the door or granted permission to open the door to all the stray dogs and cats who became beloved family pets. She thoroughly enjoyed an open-to-close visit to any zoo or wildlife park and especially enjoyed Sea World in Orlando. A “robot kitty” provided her hours of comfort in the final months of her life. Ruth was a fan of all sports in which her daughter Betsy and grandsons Lance and Logan participated -- volleyball, basketball, track, baseball, football. She enjoyed traveling, cooking, gardening, and even lawn care, spending hours on her riding mower during Nebraska summers. She espoused and taught her children the values of care for others, compassion, empathy, kindness and service. Over her lifetime she volunteered either on her own or with Jack and her kids at Crisis Line in Kearney, The Foreign Student Association at Kearney State College, The Red Cross, Good Samaritan Hospital, The Humane Society, Goodfellows of Kearney and others. She and Jack opened the doors of their home and hearts to all sorts of international students from every corner of the world. She is survived by her daughters Betsy of Columbus and Theresa Rall of Quito, Ecuador, Betsy’s husband Craig Potthast, and her grandsons Lance (Adrienne) Rall of Kearney and Logan (Theresa) Rall of Omaha, granddaughter Erin Burr of Kearney and her parents Kim and Jeff Burr, five great grandchildren (Lia, Aidan, Declan, Sage and Jack), and numerous nieces and nephews. She was proceeded in death by her husband (Jan 1, 2023), her parents, her sister Mary, and her son Stephen John.

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Ruth A. Rall

July 13, 1938 - January 1, 2024