Drobny, Ruth Emley

Ruth Emley Drobny, 97, died Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, at Jefferson County Health Center, Fairfield. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, at First Presbyterian Church, Fairfield, with Pastor Joe Phillps officiating. Interment will be at Evergreen Cemetery, Fairfield. The family will receive friends from 5 until 7 p.m. Friday at Raymond Funeral Home in Fairfield.

Ruth was born on a farm near Wisner, Neb., on Feb. 25, 1914, to Ray and Tena (Thompson) Emley. At the age of 7 she moved with her parents to a farm near Martin, S.D., where she grew up and was educated. On Jan. 19, 1935, she married Edward Drobny at her parents' home in Martin. They moved to Iowa in 1937 and to Fairfield in 1940; they lived in various towns, moving back to Fairfield in 1982, when Ed retired.

Ruth belonged to the First Presbyterian Church, Alpha Circle, PEO Chapter HA, Lionels, Fairfield Womans Club and several bridge clubs. She received the Daughter of the Year award at the Presbyterian Church in 1996 and the Lifetime Honorary Membership Award in Presbyterian Women USA in 1998.

Her hobbies were cooking, hand work and playing bridge.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 69 years on Nov. 16, 2003; an infant son and daughter; four brothers and two sisters.

Surviving are her three sons, Robert Eugene (Phyllis) Drobny of The Villages, Fla., Donald Dean (Susie) Drobny of Bluffton, S.C., and Charles Edward (Terri) Drobny of Fairfield; six grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Leah Malambri in Indiana and Arlyss Morland in South Dakota.

Memorials have been established to Scholarships at the Presbyterian Church, Sunnybrook Assisted Living, Fairfield Womans Club and Batten Disease Support and Research.

Online condolences may be sent to: .

Arrangements are in the care of Raymond Funeral Home in Fairfield.

Published Nov. 4, 2011, in The Gazette