TORRINGTON – Ruth Ann Yinger finished her earthly pilgrimage on Nov. 25 at the age of 89 years. She is with the Lord, united with many family members who went on before. Ruth was born on a farm near Pilger, Nebraska, the youngest of five children born to Clyde and Ethel McIntosh. After high school, she attended the University of Nebraska and Nebraska Wesleyan. She did her training in Physical Therapy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. While there, she met Murrell Richard (Rich) Halstead, fell and love, and was married in 1956. Ruth and Rich had three children: Kenneth, Mark, and Kerri. Rich passed away in 1966 and Ruth remarried in 1968. With Eugene Yinger, and his son, Vonn, a wonderful, blended family was formed. Eugene adopted Ruth’s three children, and the two of them spent 50 good years together before he passed away in 2018.
Ruth was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandma. She worked for many years as a physical therapist in Casper, Cheyenne, and Torrington, helping to bring hundreds of people back to full health. She and Gene ran the Maverick Motel for many years, and she always had a smiling face and warm welcome for all their guests. She loved people and they loved her. But her greatest love was her love for the Lord Jesus.
She loved reading God’s Word, praying for others and reaching out to help those in need, both physically and spiritually. She taught Sunday School, served as a deaconess in her church, led home Bible studies, and ministered to people in jails and in the prison. She was quick to show hospitality to strangers, and she gave generously to missionaries and ministries who were reaching others in many places.
Ruth was preceded in death by her two husbands, two sons, her daughter and her four siblings, as well as by a grandson and several nieces and nephews. She was well-acquainted with grief and yet maintained a loving and caring heart and a joyous spirit that radiated her love for Jesus. She will be greatly missed by her son Ken and his wife, Cathy, as well as by her grandchildren, Shannon Lichty and her husband Evan, Joel Yinger and his wife Kristen, and her six great grandchildren. She will also be missed by her sister-in-law, Donna, and by many nieces and nephews who dearly loved her, and by many others whose lives were touched by her love and concern.
The family wishes to give a special thanks to Peggy Holmstrand and the wonderful staff at Evergreen Court for their warm and loving care for Mom in the years following Dad’s death. Evergreen became her home and she loved living there, and we are thankful for that. We also wish to express our thanks to the staff at Torrington Community Hospital who helped Mom through the final month of her earthly journey. Always kind and caring, they made a difficult month much more bearable. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Her Celebration of Life will take place at Berean Bible Church, 2002 East D Street, Torrington, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3.
In lieu of flowers, the family would ask that donations be made to Land of Goshen Ministries (food pantry) or Berean Bible Church of Torrington (missions’ budget.)
