Ruth Riley

Ruth Riley, 88 of Grants Pass, passed away, Sunday March 23, 2008 at her daughter̢۪s home in Grants Pass. Memorial Services will be held on April 11, 2008, 3:00 PM at Calvary Lutheran Church in Grants Pass. Beloved grandmother and mother, devoted family member, cherished friend to many, Ruth Riley transitioned into the hands of her beloved Savior on Easter Sunday, 2008. Ruth was born on the kitchen table to Alma and Henry Berning in Fort Wayne, Indiana on December 14th, 1919. Educated at Indiana University as a chemist, she and her first husband, William Daniel Shonkwiler, a chemical engineer, were sent by their employer, Seagram's Distillery of Cincinnati, Ohio to California to work in the then fledgling wine industry. Later in Fresno, California, she taught English to immigrants for the Fresno Adult School, pioneering education via television. While raising three daughters as a widow, she taught mathematics at Hamilton Junior High. She furthered her education via National Science Foundation scholarships at Utah State University and San Jose State University and became the administrator of Fresno school system mathematics and, later, television in the classroom. A lifelong Lutheran at Zion in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Our Saviors, Good Sheppard, and Hope in Fresno, California and Calvary in Grants Pass, Oregon, she worshipped regularly, participated in classes and groups, taught Sunday school and VBS, served on the altar guild and call committees, sat on the Board of Bethel Lutheran Home in Selma, California and fulfilled a lifetime goal of "constantly striving to know as much about the Bible as possible". Every one of her days began with "no Bible, no breakfast". Throughout her life she gave generously to her communities serving on the Fresno County Grand Jury, the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Commission, volunteering for HICAP and Friends of the Library, and was actively involved in AAUW, PEO, Fresno Philharmonic, Fresno Opera Guild, as well as numerous Fresno women's clubs including Fig Garden Women's, Parlor Lecture, Wednesday, and more. She loved to play Scrabble and bridge; she swam regularly; she valued fine music and literature and wine. She traveled the world with her second husband, Robert Dale Riley, and often invited grandchildren to travel with her. She moved to Grants Pass, Oregon to be closer to her children and grandchildren. Left to cherish fond memories are Martha Shonkwiler of Grants Pass, Oregon, Mary and Bill Hallows of Grants Pass, Oregon and Dorothy Shonkwiler of Chico, California as well as eight wonderful grandchildren and four great grandchildren, a brother William in Indiana and valued friends and associates too numerous to list.