Ruth A. (Schaecher) Harmening Nicholson

Ruth A. Harmening Nicholson (nee Schaecher), age 94, formerly of Moline and Aurora, Colorado, passed away on February 15, 2023.  

She was born at home on November 5, 1928, in Platte County, Nebraska to William and Anna (nee Bierman) Schaecher. In 1935, when she was six, her mother died in childbirth. In 1939, her father remarried, to Sophia Gregor. The family moved to the Quad Cities area in 1942.  She was a graduate of United Township High School.  

Ruth married Richard Harmening in 1948; they divorced and she married Marvin Nicholson in 1975. Both predeceased her.  

Survivors include children Cathy (Steve) Bein of Silvis; Steve (Eneida) Harmening, Aurora, Colorado; Donald Bruce (Linda) Harmening, Strafford, Missouri; Joan Grihalva, Denver, Colorado; and Gail Pennington, Aurora, Colorado. Grandchildren surviving her are Jeannie Walquist, Denver, Colorado; Lisa Monkus, Aurora, Colorado; Stephanie (Todd) Sweet, Port Richey, Florida; Nathan (Kate) Balzer, Naples, Florida; Elizabeth Bennett, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Jarek Harmening, Strafford, Missouri; David Bein, Littleton, Colorado; Brandon (Sheryl) Harmening, Springfield, Missouri; Anthony Harmening, Centennial, Colorado; and Ashley Harmening, Centennial, Colorado; and great-grandchildren, Joshua Walquist, Atlanta, Georgia; Jonathan (Charish) Walquist, Jefferson City, Tennessee; Sage Sweet, Evans, Colorado; Kaylyn Sweet, Centennial, Colorado; Logan Sweet, Jacksonville, Florida; Sean and Sydney Balzer, Naples, Florida. One grandchild, Karen Marie Bein, predeceased her.  

Also surviving from her marriage to Marvin are six stepchildren: Jeanette Nava, Springfield, Missouri; Judy (Scott) Farnham, Durango, Colorado; Gary Nicholson, Herman, Nebraska; Shirlee (Jody) Petersen, Davenport, Iowa; Colleen Nicholson, Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Dan (Mary) Nicholson, Spring City, Tennessee.  Predeceasing her are Carolyn Lehan, and Michael and Jeffrey Nicholson.  

Ruth came from a family of eleven children. Two brothers survive her: William (Joyce, deceased) Schaecher Sr. of Goleta, California, and Maurice (Bernadette, deceased) Schaecher of Des Plaines, Illinois. Predeceasing her are brothers and sisters-in law Lawrence and Hazel; Richard and Mildred; Joseph and Kay; Ivan and Gloria; and Louis and Helen, then Rita; and sisters and brothers-in-law, Esther and Florenz Stenger and Marian and Urban Boesch.  Ruth’s sister Helen died at the age of six from diptheria.                                    

Ruth was a former member of VFW Auxiliary 2150, Moline, the National Catholic Society of Foresters, and the Sacred Heart Altar & Rosary Society.  She was a longtime volunteer for Quad City Right to Life.  Her employment included Sears, Frank Foundries, and Visiting Nurses and Homemakers of Rock Island County (later Moline Public Hospital).

 Ruth was a strong and loving mother, independent, smart, kind, generous, modest, and compassionate and raised her children in the Catholic faith which was so important to her. She was a member of St. Mary’s Parish in Moline, where her children attended school, and Sacred Heart Parish, Moline, before joining Christ the King Parish in her later years.

Funeral services and Mass of Christian Burial will be at Christ the King Church, Moline, on March 17 at 10:00 a.m. Visitation will be at Van Hoe Funeral Home, East Moline, on March 16 from 3:00 to 6:00, with a Rosary at 3:00. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Food for the Hungry.    

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