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After a long brave fight with Fronto-Temporal dementia, Elke Brigitte (Schutkowski) Ruff, 71, passed away peacefully and entered into heaven on October 22, 2013.  She is now in her resurrected body, free from all imperfection, and in the presence of our Father in heaven for eternity.

Elke was born in Frankfurt, Germany on November 30, 1941 to Helmut and Maria (Mueller) Schutkowski.  The middle of three sisters, she was the unique one, with brown hair and big, soulful brown eyes, compared to the blond hair and blue eyes of her sisters.  Her life started during WWII, and as a little girl, one of her earliest memories was of hiding in the basement of her building when air sirens would go off.  When she was a teenager, Elke met her future husband, James, a handsome American Soldier stationed in Germany.  She married him in December 1961, and they soon had two beautiful daughters.  Immigrating to the states with her husband, Elke eventually became an American citizen, an accomplishment she was always proud of.  If you introduced her as German, she would quietly remind you that she was born in Germany but she was an American.

Elke eventually started working outside the home for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), and retired after 29 years of faithful service.  During her tenure with AAFES,she was assigned to positions in Japan, Kosovo, and Germany, among other places.  She started as a sales associate at the Jewelry counter, and ended as a Vendor Management Manager.  She loved her job and the different places it took her.  One of the highlights of her career was when she volunteered to go to Kosovo to help support American troops.  She genuinely enjoyed the training she underwent to prepare for Kosovo, and once over there, meeting the local people.

Elke was a beautiful, vibrant, and adventuresome soul who was dedicated to her family and adopted country.  She loved traveling and experiencing new adventures.  She was never afraid to go on to the next new experience.  She loved to read and would often have two or three partially read books and magazines lying around the house.  She passed on that love for reading to her daughters.  Elke loved all animals but her favorites were cats.  She always had at least one cat living with her, and often fed the neighborhood strays.  She also passed on this love for animals to her daughters and grand children.

Mom, you are deeply loved and missed by your family and friends.  You are an awesome mom who gave her children a great foundation on which to live.  You raised us to trust in the goodness of other people, to care for anything more defenseless than us, and to just be a good human-being.

Elke was preceded in death by her parents, and leaves behind her two daughters, Catherine Barrett (James), and Deborah Jones, both of Indianapolis, IN; two grand-children, Sandra Brooks (Ernest), Ontario, CA, and Erick Jones, Indianapolis, IN; two great-grandchildren, Elyse and Shawn Brooks, Ontario, CA; sisters Waltraud Dauernheim (Louis),Tucson, AZ, and Uta Rommel, Frankfurt, Germany; nieces, Elke Agor, and Barbara MacDonald (Dwayne), both of Tucson, AZ; Barbara and Rebecca Rommel, both of Frankfurt, Germany, great-nephews Michael Dauernheim (Regina), Fort Lewis, Washington and Aaron MacDonald, Tucson AZ, many friends, and her two beloved cats, Sammy and Billy-Bob.

There will be a private cremation in Indianapolis, Indiana, and a celebration of life memorial planned for April 2014 in Arizona for all of Elke’s beloved family and friends.  The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations to the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) be made in Elke’s honor.

2 Corinthians 5:1 (NIV) Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

2 Corinthians 5:8 (Living Bible) And we are not afraid but are quite content to die, for then we will be at home with the Lord.