Obituary of Ruth Ann Miner Kessel

Dr. Ruth Miner Kessel 1920 � 2017 Ruth, age 96, of Whitewater, WI, died on Sunday, January 29, 2017, at Fairhaven in Whitewater, WI. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, February 4, 2017, at the Congregational Church, 133 S. Franklin Street, Whitewater, Wisconsin. Friends may call from 9:30 on Saturday to the time of the service. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes to have memorials give in memory of Ruth to the Kessel Peace Institute at Mankato State University in Mankato, Minnesota. Ruth Ann Miner Kessel was born on May 28, 1920, the daughter of Albert Burns and Ann Lee (Dilworth) Miner, near Table Grove, Illinois.� She spent her childhood there and attended a rural one-room schoolhouse. She graduated from Knox College in Galesburg, IL, and served in the Navy during World War II.� She was one of the two first female admissions and graduates from the University of Chicago Law School.� There she met Abbas Kessel at the International House, where they enjoyed talking about politics, and how to achieve peace.� Ruth then became a longtime faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Kessel taught political science at Minnesota State Mankato.� Together they loved designing furniture, writing poetry, appreciating classical music, collecting art, growing plants and gathering with friends. The two dated for 30 years, married in 1984 and retired from teaching the following year.� Ruth was a professor for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater from 1958 until 1985.� Sadly, her husband died from leukemia in 1987. A deep commitment to peace, the environment, and social justice has been the life for which Ruth will always be remembered. Ruth is survived by six nieces and nephews and their families along with several close cousins, that all enjoyed the time they spent with her.� She is preceded in death by her beloved husband Abbas Kessel, her parents Albert Burns Miner and Ann Lee Dilworth Miner, her brother William Miner, and her sister Marian Miller. The Nitardy Funeral Home, Whitewater, Wisconsin is assisting the family.