Ruth M. Isenberg

Ruth Marie (Nelson) Isenberg, age 94, passed away at her home in Overland Park, KS on November 23, 2020. 

She was born in Madison, Wisconsin to Delmar Wood and Elizabeth (Miller) Nelson on June 24, 1926. Ruth grew up in the Nakoma neighborhood and received her degree in Dietetics from the University of Wisconsin in 1948 where she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority. 

She married Philip Isenberg in August of 1949 and resided in Chicago and later Kansas City with their five children, Ann Isenberg of Bow, NH, Mary Wheeler of Overland Park, KS, Mark Isenberg of Kansas City, MO, Marjorie Abel of Wakefield, KS, and Carol Dillon of Overland Park, KS. 

Ruth loved spending her youth at the family cottage on the Wisconsin River near Poynette, picking berries in the woods, and bicycling with girlfriends. In later years Ruth was a volunteer at the Prairie Center in Olathe, KS and a longtime member of Asbury Methodist Church and Ladies’ Circle. She enjoyed the Kappa book group, her garden, NPR and PBS, pets and grandchildren. 

She was preceded in death by her sister, Marjorie (Nelson) Zimmerman, with whom she shares a gravestone in Riverside Cemetery, Peshtigo, WI near her parents, paternal grandparents (Otto and Etta Nelson who established and operated Peshtigo’s Nelson Jewelry Store for more than 40 years), and other ancestors. 

She is survived by her five children, a nephew, six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.