Ruth Elizabeth Mosier (née Rodgers)

- – Ruth Elizabeth Mosier (née Rodgers), died peacefully on Tuesday, May 8, 2018, while in residence at Pacifica Senior Living in Paradise Valley, Arizona. She was 82 years old.

Daughter of Clinton and Ruth (Colyer) Rodgers, Ruth was born on her family’s farm near Frankfort, Indiana, on January 1, 1936. A 1953 graduate of Jackson Township High School, she attended Purdue University, where she was a liberal arts major in the School of Science. There, she met her husband of 58 years, Russell Mosier, who died in 2014.

Following a stay in Newport News, Virginia (for Russ’s army service), the newlyweds made their home in Peoria, Illinois, where Russ worked for Caterpillar and Ruth gave birth to two children (Andrew and Elizabeth). After a move to Albuquerque, New Mexico, the family settled in Phoenix, Arizona, where Russ took a job with Empire Machinery and their third child, son Paul, was born.

In Phoenix, Ruth launched a long career in real estate—first, as a resale agent and later, as a broker. Her second, simultaneous “career” was reading; she visited the public library regularly and amassed a personal book collection of more than 6,000 volumes. Her other passions included playing bridge, doing crossword puzzles, rooting for the Phoenix Suns, researching family genealogy, adopting stray and rescue dogs, and travel. Her post-retirement bucket list included trips to Hawaii, Australia, the Grand Canyon, Pennsylvania, Indiana, down the Mississippi River by riverboat, and across Canada by train.

A breast cancer survivor, Ruth Mosier was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2007, and lived for nearly ten years in memory care. She is survived by her sisters Mary Dickhaut of Lebanon, Ohio (Rick); Janet Cunningham of Bedford, Indiana; sons Andrew Rodgers Mosier (Janette) of Tucson and Paul Stuart Mosier (Keri) of Phoenix; daughter Elizabeth Ann Mosier (Christopher Mills) of St. Davids, Pennsylvania; and five grandchildren: Melanie Mosier, Alison Mosier-Mills, Catherine Mosier-Mills, Nicholas Mosier, and Eleri Mosier. One spirited grandchild, Harmony Mosier, predeceased her by six days.

Donations in Ruth Mosier’s memory may be made to: Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Fl. 17, Chicago, IL 60601, https://www.alz.org.