Ruth Lemon, 98, of Sioux Falls, passed away on Sunday, May 29, 2022, at Bethany Nursing Home in Sioux Falls. 

Her funeral service will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 25, at American Lutheran Church with burial to follow at Riverside Cemetery in Huron. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday morning.

Ruth Marie (Noack) Lemon was born at the Noack family farm home in Floyd Township, Sanborn County on May 23, 1924. Her father was a second-generation pioneer farmer, and her mother was a recent immigrant from Germany. Ruth was the second oldest of five children, Margaret, Ruth, Arnold, Sieglinde and Siegfried.

Ruth grew up during the dust bowl and depression days that affected the area. She attended a one-room prairie elementary school (Zell School) and graduated from Woonsocket High School.

Ruth met Thyron O. Lemon while attending what is now Dakota State University in Madison. Their college educations were interrupted by World War II. Thyron entered the Navy and served as a Sea-Bee in the South Pacific, and Ruth worked for the Civil Service Commission-Investigation Division. After the war, on Jan. 26, 1946, they were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church. They moved to the Huron area and had six children, Bruce, Diane, Barbara, Craig, LuEllen, and Loren. They purchased a small home in North Huron, where Ruth lived for over 50 years.

Thyron died at the early age of 39 of a heart attack. Ruth was faced with raising six young children on her own. She returned to college to get her teaching credentials. She then taught in the Iroquois school district for over 25 years until she retired.

Ruth was a long-time member of the American Lutheran Church in Huron and worked in prison ministry, Native American ministries and Church Women United. Even when she moved to assisted living in Sioux Falls, she remained active, producing many crocheted works for charities.

Ruth is survived by five children, Bruce, Diane, Barbara, LuEllen and Loren; 11 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Max and Elisabeth Noack; her siblings, Margaret, Arnold, Sieglinde and Siegfried; her husband, Thyron; her son, Craig; her granddaughter, Jess; and great-grandsons, Dakota and Carter.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Ruth’s name to the Christian Learning Center at American Lutheran Church.