RUTH+ANN+EIKERMANN

Ruth Ann Eikermann (Gatchell) 96, of Lake Forest, KS passed from this life on January 4, 2018. Visitation from 6 to 8 pm , Mon., Jan. 8, at the Alden-Harrington Funeral in Bonner Springs, KS. Family committal. Memorial Service to be announced. She was born on December 29, 1921, was the daughter of Ralph Arthur Gatchell and Anna Elisabeth Wilshusen, and had an older sister, Marian Nichols (Gatchell). Her husband of 39 years, Edgar William Eikermann, departed on July 7, 1987. Ruth Ann is survived by daughter Mary Ann Van Dine, son Douglas R. Eikermann, son-in-law Wayne Van Dine, and granddaughter Corey Marie Van Dine Shonk. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign languages from Pittsburg State University in 1942 and a Master of Science in Counseling from the University of Kansas in 1962. She taught Spanish at Bonner Springs High School from 1944 to 1945 and English at Washington High School in Kansas City, Kansas, from 1945 to 1947. She worked as the Society Editor for The Kansas City Star from 1947 to 1952. She taught school at Stony Point Elementary from 1953 to 1961, served as head of the English Department at Northwest Junior High School from 1962 to 1967, and returned to Washington High School as a counselor from 1968 to 1985. When she married Edgar William Eikermann in 1947, they purchased their first and only house at Lake of the Forest. Throughout her life, she was active in numerous groups, to include: American Association of University Women (Treasurer); P.E.O. Sisterhood, Parent Teacher Association; Retired Teachers; International Foreign Language Society; Lake Forest Ladies Club; Risen Savior Lutheran Church Circle; Delta Kappa Gamma; Alpha Mu Gamma; Wyandotte County Republican Boosters; Red Hat; Republican Party, and the Lutheran Church. She was a Wyandotte County Central Committee Representative for the Republican Party, a recipient of the United Way Honor Kansas City 2001, and the caretaker of her pride and joy, Eikermann Park, at Lake of the Forest. She also hosted a yearly Christmas party to which she invited friends and family from all reaches of her life. She was dedicated to staying in contact with all those whose lives touched hers in positive ways. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial contributions to the Lake of the Forest Board for the Landscaping Committee and or the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey for the Ailey Summer Camp for Urban Youth.

If you wish to send a card: Doug Eikermann  [|12924 W. 65th St.]  [|Shawnee, Kansas 66216] [|Duende44sbcglobal.net]