Ruth C. Wester

Ruth C. Wester was a founding member and past president of the Belgium American Legion Auxiliary, a role she took on as a way to support veterans in her community, her son Dean said.

Her husband Norman was the first commander of the Legion, their son said, and it was just one of the many things the couple did together.

“They were very instrumental in getting the Legion going,” he said. “It was important to them.”

Mrs. Wester spent three years at Fort Hood in Texas while her husband served in the Army.

She volunteered at the mess hall on the base while her husband, a sergeant, helped out as a cook, her son said.

Mrs. Wester, who lived at Harbor Campus in Port Washington for the past nine years, died of complications of Alzheimer’s disease on Sunday, June 24. She was 90.

She was born in Port Washington on Nov. 22, 1927, the daughter of Peter and Catherine Heinen Pierron.

A graduate of Port Washington High School, she married her high school sweetheart Norman Wester at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Fredonia on Oct. 8, 1949.

Mrs. Wester enjoyed cooking and baking, her son said, as well as knitting and crocheting.

“She enjoyed making afghans,” he said. “And she would knit baby booties and different things for babies and children and give them to friends.”

Mrs. Wester loved children and was a devoted mother, her son said.

He has a bone disease and broke his legs more than 60 times by the time he turned 17, he said, and his mother cared for him.

“She was more than just a mom,” he said. “She was my nurse too.”

Mrs. Wester was also an active member of the Christian Ladies organization at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Lake Church for many years.

She enjoyed spending winters in Apache Junction, Ariz., with her husband and friends for years.

Mrs. Wester is survived by her son Dean (fiance Nancy Kreutzer) of Mequon and sisters-in-law Joann Schmit of Random Lake and Mary Ann Wester and Darlene Wester, both of Belgium.

In addition to her husband, who died in 1990, she was preceded in death by her sister Rita Pierron.

A funeral service for Mrs. Wester will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 28, at Eernisse Funeral Home in Belgium. Father Guy Gurath will officiate.

Visitation will be at the funeral home from 3 p.m. Thursday until the service.

Burial will be at St. Rose of Lima Cemetery in Fredonia.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Alzheimer’s Association of Wisconsin.