Barry, Ruby Marie (Boddicker)

Ruby Marie (Boddicker) Barry, 93, of Van Horne, past resident of RidgeView Assisted Living in Cedar Rapids, passed away at Cottage Grove Place in Cedar Rapids, on Monday, Oct. 28, 2013.

Survivors include her four children, Kathy (Blake) Gendron, Bill (Mary Ellen) Barry, Pat (Kandy) Barry and Ann (Dennis Thompson); 12 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; six stepgrandchildren; and four stepgreat-grandchildren.

Ruby was born May 23, 1920, to Frank and Erma (Stallman) Boddicker of Newhall, Iowa. She graduated from Newhall High School and then attended Mount Mercy College where she obtained her teaching degree. Her first teaching job was in a one-room schoolhouse, followed by positions in the Newhall and Oxford Junction school systems. After 10 years of teaching, she met Leo Barry of Van Horne and married him on June 1, 1949. This marriage spanned 49 years and was so blessed with mutual love and respect and good times.

Mom loved being a full-time homemaker. She created a place where not only her children felt loved and cared for, but also one where friends and neighbors felt welcome. The coffee pot was always on.

Mom was very proud of her garden and flowers. She excelled at flower arranging and made beautiful displays for the Van Horne Garden Club. She also was an avid reader throughout her life and had a passion for the daily crossword puzzles that involved calling her kids for help if she couldn't figure out a word ... always the teacher.

Ruby was preceded in death by the love of her life, Leo; infant son, James; brothers, Mike, Virgil, Red and Bill; and sister, Marcella Schulte.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Van Horne, with Father Craig Steimel as Celebrant. Interment will be held at Holy Cross Cemetery, near Keystone. A reception will be held in the church basement following the committal service. The family will greet friends at Phillips Funeral Home in Keystone from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday.

Memorials may be made to St. Luke's Hospice or to the Van Horne Library Fund.

Condolences may be left at .

Published in The Gazette Oct. 30, 2013.