Ruth Kilgore

    Ruth K. Kilgore, 98, most recently of Apple Valley Assisted Living in Clear Lake, IA, formerly of Klemme, IA, died peacefully on May 4, 2025, in her room at Apple Valley.

   Public Memorial services will be held October 3, 2025, at 3 PM, at the Klemme United Methodist Church, Klemme. Pastor Deb Devine will be officiating. Inurnment will be near her husband Lyndon and son Clay Kilgore in the Ell Township Cemetery-Klemme. There will be a time of visitation and greeting of Ruth’s family from 2-3 PM preceding the services on the 3rd and a time of food and fellowship following the services. Memorials or expressions of sympathy may be directed to the family of Ruth Kilgore, c/o Ross Kilgore, 2949 North Elk Run St., Flagstaff, AZ 86004.

    Ruth Kathryn McCormick, the daughter of Michael Leroy “Roy” and Inez (Shaver) McCormick, was born in Garner, Iowa on September 11, 1926.  She graduated from Garner High School and later attended AIB School of

Business in Des Moines.  In her youth, Ruth worked as a waitress in Garner, IA, and then during the latter years of World War II, Ruth was employed in Dayton, OH, at Wright Field, where she helped track and account for critical oil shipments supporting the Army Air Forces’ aviation efforts.  After the war, Ruth returned to Garner and worked as an administrative assistant.

    Ruth was united in marriage to Lyndon “Pete” Kilgore, on September 4, 1954 and they made their home in Klemme, IA.  Their union was blessed with a son Clay Lyndon Kilgore, on March 4, 1956, in Belmond, IA.  Ruth spent most of her life following marriage as a full-time home maker. Her bond with Clay and his children was very strong following Pete’s passing in 1983. In1991, she later returned to the workforce as an accountant for BMD Industries in Klemme, and after her second retirement she became very active in swim aerobics with a group of women who called themselves the “Aqua Belles”.  Throughout her life she was active in her church homes in Klemme and then in Clear Lake, where she moved in 2012. In 2018, Ruth moved to Apple Valley where she maintained a neatly kept and warmly decorated residence and enjoyed the activities and relationships with the staff and residents.

    Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Lyndon “Pete” Kilgore on May 2, 1983, son Clay on August 11, 2012; her brothers Dan, Michael, and Larry, her sisters Cleo Anderson and Reta Kerdus, and various other family members and friends.

   Her memory will continue to be carried forward by her surviving grandchildren and their families: Jeremy (Katia Pechenkina) Kilgore and their daughters Sasha and Mila, Bethesda, MD;  Kelli Kilgore (Max Knauer) and their daughter Zari, and sons Max and Dexter, Barrington, IL; Ross (Kelly Teeselink) Kilgore and their son Otto Kilgore, Flagstaff, AZ;  as well as her sister Jean Malley and other extended family members.