Ruth Banwart

Ruth Banwart, 86, Lamar, died May 24, 2004, at Cox South, Springfield, following a short illness. She was born on Oct. 30, 1917, in Burlington, Okla., the daughter of Sam and Anna Somerhalder Miller. On Aug. 26, 1945, she married Arthur Banwart in Burlington, Okla. He survives.

She lived in Lamar for 59 years. She was a homemaker. She was a member of the Apostolic Christian Church.

She is survived by one son, Gene Banwart, Liberal; two daughters, Joan Baslee, Lockwood, Mo., and Gail Strahm, Rainbow, Texas; one brother, Lewis Miller, Sedona, Ariz.; three sisters, Mary Ann Luttrell, of Illinois, Dorothy Maurer, of Arizona, and Sylvia Burket, of Oklahoma; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by two brothers; three sisters; one grandson; and one great-grandson.

Services will be held at the Apostolic Christian Church of Lamar at 10 a.m., Friday, May 28. Interment will be in the Apostolic Christian Cemetery. Visitation will be today from 6 to 8 p.m., at Konantz-Warden Chapel. Memorials are suggested to the Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City in care of the oncology department.