Ruth Rutten

Ruth Rutten, 100, formally of Great Falls MT, passed away peacefully in Camden, SC on Jun 18, 2026. A celebration of her life will be held at Schnider Funeral Home in Great Falls, MT on September 4th, 2026, at 2:00 PM.

Ruth was born in Stanley, North Dakota to Oscar and Minda Haugen. Growing up in North Dakota, Ruth became a beautician after attending beauty school at just 15 years old. There she met the love of her life, Paul Rutten. They married in 1946, and moved to Billings, MT where they had the first two of three children, Carol and Nancy. In the early 50’s, Ruth and her family moved to Great Falls, MT. It was here where another daughter, Peggy, was born. During this time Ruth and Paul built their first home and independently owned shop, Paul’s Repair. Ruth kept the books and helped keep the shop clean and organized while Paul worked on vehicles. They decided to change business venues and built an apartment complex. Deciding they enjoyed building structures Ruth and Paul built their first custom mobile home in Great Falls and then moved to Ft. Shaw, MT where they built fourteen more. They also developed Northern Boat Loaders. This enabled them to travel with their personally custom-built travel trailer behind them and their boat atop the pickup.

After Paul retired, Ruth happily sat as Paul’s Passenger Princess, as she never had or wanted a driver’s license on their many adventures. They loved salmon fishing off the Washington coast, being snowbirds from Florida to Arizona and even visited Mexico Their great grandchildren still argue over the donkey statue they brought home. Ruth and Paul loved the outdoors and had many trips of camping, fishing, boating, waterskiing, and more. Ruth, Paul, and their three beautiful daughters’ families made many wonderful memories over the years. She passed on her love of canning such things as fruit, beets, and baby carrots to her family.

A not so big secret was Ruth had a sweet tooth and enjoyed baking! At any given time, she had homemade cake, cookies or some other treat ready to share with anyone who came to visit. She loved coffee and cookies, no matter the time of day. Her grandchildren have plenty of stories of her nightly bowl of ice cream with all the fixings, and there was always a variety in her freezer. While living in South Carolina her great-grandchildren would sneak cookies to her all day, and they would enjoy them together while sharing giggles and smiles. She enjoyed scrapbooking and making photo albums for family.

Ruth joins her husband of 72 years, Paul in eternal rest, and leaves behind daughters Carol (Jerry-deceased) Cummings of Bogart, GA; Nancy (Toby) Gaskins of Great Falls, MT, and Peggy (Kenneth) Trout of Camden, SC. She had the pleasure of seeing her 8 grandchildren grow into adulthood, getting to know and love her 21 great-grandchildren, and welcome 4 great-great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a Hospice of your choice.

P.S. The secret ingredient to the Ruth family’s famous goulash is……a little bit of Velveeta Cheese!!!