Schmieder, Ruth Marie

Ruth Marie Schmieder, well known local artist, died Monday, July 4, 2011, in her beloved Middle Amana, Iowa at the age of 89. Visitation will be at the Middle Amana Church on Friday, July 8, from 4 to 7 p.m. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Saturday, July 9, at the church, with Elder Emilie Hoppe officiating. Burial will follow at Middle Amana Cemetery. Arrangements are with Kloster Funeral Home in Marengo.

Ruth was born May 26, 1922, in Middle Amana, to Dr. Christian and Johanna (Jeck) Herrmann. She grew up in Middle, graduating from Amana High School in 1939 and attended the University of Iowa for two years. On April 24, 1944, she was united in marriage with Adolph C Schmieder in Roswell, N.M., where Adolph served in the Army Air Corps. When Adolph was discharged from the service after World War II, the couple returned to the Amanas, where they lived and raised their family. After Adolph retired they spent winters in their condo overlooking Tampa Bay, Fla., returning every spring to the family home in Middle.

In the early 1960s Ruth and some friends decided to take an art class at the YWCA in Cedar Rapids. There Ruth discovered her passion and talent for painting. Working mainly in oils and acrylics, she painted the scenes she knew and loved best, the Amanas and the rural Iowa countryside. Later in her career she switched to painting miniatures. She especially enjoyed painting beautiful blooming flowers from local gardens.

Ruth loved Amana, the church, and little children who she taught faithfully for 22 years in her Sunday school class. She and Adolph enjoyed playing bridge and she attained the status of Life Master. She was talented as a seamstress and quilter but most of all she enjoyed knitting. She and other Amana ladies knit and then sold ski hats and toe socks to a skiing store in Aspen, Colo., for many years. Later, as a volunteer, she knit countless sets of caps and booties for the newborn babies at Mercy Medical Center. She and Adolph were avid Hawkeye fans attending games as season ticket holders for over 50 years. She was a faithful follower of the Cubbies, Da Bulls, (especially Michael Jordan and B.J. Armstrong) and Tiger Woods.

Most of all Ruth loved her family. She is survived by her daughter, Terry and husband Jim Roemig of Amana; her son, Eric Schmieder of Albuquerque, N.M.; four grandchildren, Jason Gauna and wife Lynette of Albuquerque, Karlos Schmieder of Oakland, Calif., Sarah Roemig and husband Scott of Excelsior, Minn., and Rebecca Selzer and husband Neil of Verona, Wis. Also surviving are six much loved great-grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Adolph in 2002; her parents; her brother, Roy Herrmann; and a daughter-in-law, Jeanne Gauna.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Amana Church Society, Amana Heritage Society or Amana Arts Guild.

Online condolences may be extended to the family at