Alice L. Ruestman, 87, a resident of Heritage Manor, Minonk, and formerly of 124 Short St., died at 12:05 a.m. Monday (Dec. 15, 2003) at the nursing home.
Her funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Calvert & Froelich Memorial Home, Minonk, with the Rev. Craig Swenson officiating. Burial will follow in Minonk Township Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul's United Church of Christ or to an organization of the donor's choice.
Mrs. Ruestman was born Jan. 9, 1916, in Chicago, a daughter of Theodore and Emma Wadman Benson. She married John Ruestman Aug. 15, 1942, in Minonk. He died Feb. 10. 1977.
Survivors include a daughter, Barbara (Bill) Beck, Mount Vernon; a son, Arnold Ruestman, Rutland; three grandchildren, Ed (Dana) Beck, Mount Vernon; Tami Beck, Mount Vernon; and Tom Beck, Champaign. Also surviving are three great-grandchildren, Phillip Hamerski, Dalton Beck, and Savannah Beck; a brother, George Benson, Chicago; and a sister, Viola (Herb) Exner, New Freedom, Pa.
She was preceded in death by her parents; an infant son, James; and two brothers, Ivar Benson and Arthur Benson.
Mrs. Ruestman grew up in Chicago and graduated from Illinois State University. Along with being a farm wife, she taught school for 28 years. She taught in Sandwich, Illinois, two country schools; Pattonsburg; and Sherman (rural Rutland); did substitute teaching for numerous years, and finished her career as a fifth-grade teacher at Minonk Grade School.
She was a member of St. Paul's United Church of Christ; Woodford County Retired Teachers' Association; and the Marshall-Putnam Farm Bureau.
Until failing health, she enjoyed volunteering at Heritage Manor Nursing Home and delivering for Meals-On-Wheels.
