Ruth Anne Bartels

Ruth Anne Bartels, 63, of Chesterfield, Mo., having suffered a chronic illness, passed away Friday, April 30, 2010, at Fountain Bleu Lodge in Cape Girardeau.

She was born Nov. 2, 1946, at Cape Girardeau, the daughter of Linus W. and Inez Huston Bartels.

Ruth Anne graduated from Cape Girardeau Central High School in 1964, and then attended Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.

She began her career with the former TWA Airlines as a reservation clerk, and later took her flight attendant training in Kansas City, Mo. She worked on domestic and international flights, first from Kansas City, then California, briefly in Saudi Arabia and most recently in St. Louis. She was employed with TWA for more than 25 years and survived the buy-out of TWA by American Airlines, retiring in 2006.

Since her retirement, she volunteered at St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo., worked part time as a food-sample hostess at Trader Joe's Grocery in St. Louis and enjoyed attending Red Hat Society socials in Chesterfield.

Ruth Anne was a devoted daughter, sister and aunt, and was adored by her many nieces and nephews for her special efforts at making "Aunt Ruth time" extra-special. If there wasn't a party, Aunt Ruth made one with her renowned cooking and innate ability to entertain.

Loving survivors include her brother and sister-in-law, Wes and Brenda Bartels of Jackson; sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Bill Livers of St. Charles, Mo.; three nephews, Wesley Bartels, Jr., Wayne (Rhonda) Bartels and Pee Wee (Heather) Bartels, all of Jackson; two nieces, Lori (Ted) Williams of Jackson, Angela (Jim) Rudney of Chicago; and 13 great-nieces and great-nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents and a nephew, Ned Nugent.

Visitation will be from 1 p.m. until the time of service today at McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson. The Rev. Donnie Ford will officiate a memorial service at 2:30 p.m.

Memorials may take the form of contributions to the Safe Harbor Animal Shelter or the American Cancer Society.

Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.mccombsfuneralhome.com.