Funeral services for Ruth A. Engel, age 95, of Norwood-Young America, will be 10 a.m. Thursday, May 23, at the Zion Lutheran Church, Benton Township, Cologne, Minn., with The Rev. Eric Zacharis officiating. Interment will be in the Hollandale Cemetery, Hollandale. Casketbearers will be James Wegner, Andrew Wegner, Duane Engel and Mark Wegner. Arrangements are by the Johnson Funeral Home, Waconia.

She died Saturday, May 18, 2002, at Elim Home in Watertown.

She was born Dec. 3, 1906, in St. Paul, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Coombs nee Emma Krueger. Ruth was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith.

Ruth was preceded in death by parents: Emma and Louis Coombs; husband, Louis Engel; Brothers: Milton and Carl Coombs; and sisters-in-law: Geneveive, Katie and Annabelle Coombs.

Ruth was the oldest of three children. At about the age of 5, the family moved to a farm near Cedar Mills, Minn. She and her brothers attended country school near Cedar Mills and then later Hutchinson High School. Ruth graduated from Hutchinson High School in 1923. After graduation, she received a teaching certificate and taught two years in a country school near Brownton, Minn. She attended Macalester College in St. Paul and graduated in 1930 with a B.A. degree in music and history.

On Jan. 31, 1931, she married Louis M. Engel in St. Paul. They lived in

Hollandale, and in the mid- 1940s moved to Grand Forks, N.D. In 1951, they returned to Hollandale. Louis died in 1955 from cancer.

Being left with two children, ages 4 and 14, Ruth decided she was still needed at home. She started teaching piano in her home, sometimes

having as many as 50 students. She did this until she retired in 1974.

In 1974 she moved back to Hutchinson. She lived there until 1995, when she moved to Peace VilIa in Norwood. In June of 2000 she moved to Westwood Place in Watertown and then to Elim Home in November 2000.

Ruth loved to fish and go camping. She was always active in her church, serving as organist and participating in Ladies Aid and Bible studies. After her retirement she served as the Assistant State Director of AARP for several years, attending conventions throughout the Midwest. She loved to travel either on bus tours or with friends.

She is survived by son and daughter-in-law, Duane and Diana Engel of Tipp City, Ohio; daughter and son-in-law, Diane and James Wegner of Young America; granddaughter, Krista and Rick Mitchell of Springboro. Ohio; grandson, Andrew Wegner of Waconia; two great-great-grandchildren: Amanda and Nicholas Mitchell; and nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.