Ruth B. Becklund, 93
Ruth B. Becklund, 93, passed away on Jan. 21, 2005, of natural causes. She was born March 28, 1911, in Bisbee, Ariz.
After receiving her teaching degree from Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe in May, 1933, she began her teaching career at Buckeye, Ariz., in a one-room school house. She later moved to Burbank, Calif., and taught elementary school until her retirement in 1973. While teaching, she completed her master's degree in 1955 at L.A. State College. Ruth lived many years in Ontario, Canada, with her cousin Harry Barkell and his large family. In 1995, she moved to Kalispell.
Ruth truly enjoyed teaching and being a mother and grandmother. Her many hobbies over the years included knitting, traveling, reading and gardening. She was an avid Harry Potter fan. In recent years, feeding "her birds" had become a favorite pastime. At age 91, Ruth delighted in learning to e-mail after the gift of "her machine" from a favorite former fifth-grade student.
The year 2004 was very special to Ruth as she was able to attend the marriage of a granddaughter, traveled to her birthplace in Bisbee and enjoyed sharing Christmas with both granddaughters and great grandsons.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Howard and Bertha Douglass Barkell; her brother, Spencer Barkell of Phoenix; her former husband, Clayton Becklund of San Luis Obispo, Calif., and her cousin, Harry Barkell of Kirkland Lake, Ont.
She is survived by her daughter, Carole and her husband Bill Jensen of Kalispell; her granddaughters, Anne Hughes and her husband, Ted of Missoula, and Julie Hartman of Waukee, Iowa; and two great-grandsons, Sebastian and Kade, also of Waukee. A nephew, Bill Barkell and his wife Marta, of Arlington, Va., also survive Ruth. There are countless cousins in Kirkland Lake and scattered throughout Ontario.
A funeral service will be held at Johnson's Mortuary in Kalispell on Tuesday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m. Burial will be at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills, Calif., near her parents.
The family asks that donations be made to a charity of their choice in lieu of flowers.