Former longtime winter resident of Mexico, Ruthanne Burns died December 20 in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the age of 85.
Burns was born May 9, 1926 in Euclid, Ohio, where she grew up. Educated in Cleveland and a graduate of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she became a special education teacher and developed many hobbies, including sewing, stained-glass work and quilting. She was an avid reader.
Burns married Jack O’Keefe in 1947 and the couple lived in Gary, Indiana and Dune Acres on Lake Michigan. The O’Keefes had seven children.
The couple first came to Lakeside in the mid-80s and wintered here until Jack died of cancer in 1989.
Ruthanne later married Otto Engdal and lived in Lake City, Michigan and wintered in Chapala Haciendas. Engdal died after 16 years of marriage and Ruthanne married an old family friend, Jim Burns, in 2004 and moved to Brevard, North Carolina. Her husband died in July of 2011 and Ruthanne went to live with her daughter in Albuquerque.
During her years wintering at Lakeside Burns served on the board of directors of Programa Pro Niños Incapacitados del Lago and was an avid supporter of the Niños y Jovenes Children’s Shelter in San Juan Cosala.
She is survived by her children: Maureen Daly (John), Ruthie O’Keefe (Ed), Annie O’Keefe, John O’Keefe (Pam), Timothy O’Keefe (Heidi), Patrick O’Keefe and Dan O’Keefe (Marla), 15 grandchildren, and a sister, Joanie.
Ruthanne was an educator, great wife, mother and sister and will be greatly missed by her many Lakeside friends, including her quilting buddies.
The family suggests making donations in her memory to Programa Pro Niños Incapacitados or to the Niños y Jovenes Children’s Shelter.