Ruth Anne Pfeifle

Ruth Anne (Casterline) Pfeifle, 92, died peacefully at Cedar Manor Nursing Home in Tipton, Iowa on August 30, 2014. Ruth was born on November 22, 1921 in Tipton, Iowa and was the youngest of four children born to Lloyd and Merle (Shaver) Casterline. She graduated from Tipton High School in 1939 and attended Tipton Junior College and The University of Iowa, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Sociology in 1943. Following her graduation from The University of Iowa, she was employed by the Bendix Corporation in South Bend, Indiana. She married Kermit F. Pfeifle on January 4, 1944 at her parents' home in Tipton, Iowa. The couple resided in Pittsburgh, PA where she worked at a dairy while Kermit attended the University of Pittsburgh Dental School. Ruth was an assistant and bookkeeper in her husband's dental practice beginning in Olin, Iowa in 1948 and continuing when the practice moved to Tipton, Iowa the following year. In 1951, Ruth accompanied her husband to Germany where they lived for two years during a military tour of duty. In 1968, Ruth, Kermit, and daughter, Jill, served as volunteer workers for the Navajo Indians at a mission hospital in Monument Valley, Utah....[more]

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n 1970, through the sponsorship of The United Church of Christ World Ministries, they again served as volunteer workers at a mission hospital in Honduras. She was a member of The T.T.T. Society, The First United Church of Christ, a member of the board of directors of the Cedar Rapids Camp Fire Girls, a local Camp Fire Girl leader, a member of Tipton Golf and Country Club, and other charitable and volunteer organizations. Preferring to work behind the scenes, Ruth touched the lives of many people through her service to others, including 35 years as treasurer of Tipton Meals on Wheels beginning in 1972. Voted Best Female Athlete in high school, Ruth enjoyed an active lifestyle that included serving as a counselor at YWCA Camp Newaygo and bowling in the Tipton Monday P.M. Bowling League. After cheering for the Iowa Hawkeyes football team every fall, Ruth and Kermit spent many winters on the golf course and beach at Fort Myers Beach, FL, where friends and family were always welcome. Ruth was an avid golfer who preferred to walk rather than use a golf cart. When asked why she pushed her cart rather than pulling it, she answered, "I guess I didn't get enough time pushing a baby carriage." Ruth believed golf should be available to everyone and never turned down an invitation to play with golfers of all skill levels. She was club champion five times and a member of Tipton's Women's Eastern Iowa Golf Association tournament team for many years. Ruth was runner up in the annual WEIGA tournament four times and medalist in 1973. In 2001 she was inducted into the WEIGA Hall of Fame. Visitors to the Pfeifle home during the summer were greeted by splashes of color in Ruth's beautiful flower garden. Frosted sugar cookies, apple and sour cherry pies, and Ruth's pound cake were annual holiday traditions enjoyed by friends and family. Many college friends of Jill, and later her grandchildren, Jeff and Heidi, were treated to shoe boxes of homemade chocolate chip cookies baked by Ruth and individually wrapped by Kermit. Ruth was preceded in death by her husband, Kermit, of 67 years; sisters Rae Marie Edwards and Cleo James; and brother, Jim Casterline. She is survived by her daughter, Jill (Pfeifle) Sauser and son-in-law Martin H. Sauser, Jr. (Atlanta, GA); two grandchildren, Heidi Sauser (New York, NY) and Jeff Sauser (Jaimye Bartak; Greenfield, MA); great-granddaughter, Josephine Sauser; sister-in-law Mary Casterline; and several nieces, nephews and their families. Memorial gifts may be made to the First United Church of Christ Endowment Fund, 602 Mulberry St., Tipton, IA 52772; local humane society or animal shelter; or the charity of your choice. A celebration of Ruth's life and interment at the Tipton Masonic Cemetery is planned for June 2015. Condolences may be sent to the Sauser family at 1778 Alderbrook Road, Atlanta, GA 30345 or online at www.fryfuneralhome.com.