RUTH ARLENE (WHITTAKER) JANSEN, died Friday, Dec. 2, 2016, of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in the brain. Born Feb. 26, 1944, in Chicago, Ill., she was a daughter of Jay Laurie and Evelyn Mae (Johnson) Whittaker. She grew up in Paramus, N.J. and attended St. Olaf College where she met and married her husband Arlin Dietrich Jansen on Nov. 27, 1964. Ruth received her M.A. in counseling from IUSB in 1996 and thereafter was employed as a mental health therapist at Northeastern Center until her retirement. She is survived by her husband, Arlin; son, David (Whitney) Jansen; daughter, Natalie (Jansen) (Thomas) Street; three grandchildren, Benjamin and Rowan Street and Casssidy Jansen; sisters, Sonia Whittaker and Donna (Whittaker) (James) Schaefer; sister-in-law, Lorna Schultz; three nieces and three nephews, and many former clients and friends. A memorial service celebrating Ruth's life is 11 a,m. Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, at Trinity English Lutheran Church.
Published in Fort Wayne Newspapers on Feb. 5, 2017
Carol Puterko (1962)
Rest in peace Ruth. Your loss will be felt by all those that knew you.
Joanne Carle (Carle-Accornero) (1962)
I am heartbroken to hear about Ruth's death. Although I was at PHS for only my senior year, I became friends with Ruth and always thought she was a lovely person.
I'm sure she will be deeply missed by all....