Ruby Norton

Ruby G. Norton, age 81, of Sauk Centre, died Monday, May 21, 2007 at the St. Michael's Hospital in Sauk Centre.

Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Friday, May 25, 2007 at Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre with Rev. Marty Portor officiating. Burial will follow in Greenwood Cemetery, Sauk Centre.

Friends may call Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Pattton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre and Friday at the church one hour prior to the service.

Ruby Norton was born February 12, 1926 on a farm near Alexandria, MN to Paul and Josephine (Tuchtenhagen) Gehlhar. She graduated from Villard High School in 1945. Ruby was united in marriage to Dale F. Norton on October 10, 1946 in Villard, MN. They moved to Paynesville where she helped her husband at a gas station for 11 years. They moved to Sauk Centre in 1958. She helped her husband deliver the Sunday paper route. "Grandma Ruby" was a foster grandparent at Sauk Centre Elementary for 8 years. Her greatest accomplishment was raising her 13 children. Ruby enjoyed playing piano, singing, reading (especially the Bible), baking, cooking, sewing, and word puzzles. She was a member of Zion Lutheran Church, Sauk Centre, LWML, Debra and Lydia Circles, and the church choir.

Survivors include her sons, Floyd of Buffalo, David of Bloomington, Lawrence of Glencoe, William of Sauk Centre, Daniel of Rota, Spain; daughters, Karen of Duarte, CA, Brenda Baird of Grand Rapids, Janice Smith of St. Cloud, Sherry Anderson of Temple Hills, MD, and Ruby Toenies of Randall; brothers, Leonard Gehlhar of Lakeville, Don Gehlhar of Stockholm, WI, and Phil Gehlhar of Westminster, CA; 16 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Dale F. Norton; children, Robert and Ralph Norton and Joyce Utne; and 4 grandchildren.