Ruth Dunbar Mcleay

Age 88, Ruth peacefully passed away in Omaha on October 31, 2020. Ruth was preceded in death by less than five months by her loving husband, John, to whom she was married for 63 years, and survived by her eight children, John (Marguerite) McLeay, Bart (Jane) McLeay, Matt (Tonya) McLeay, Peter (Carol) McLeay, Paul (Allison) McLeay and Tom (Colleen) McLeay, all of Omaha, and Molly McLeay of Dallas, TX, and Maureen (Mark) Rasmussen of Prairie Village, KS, and 30 grandchildren and 19 20 great-grandchildren. Ruth also is preceded in death by her parents, Thomas Emmons and Ruth Flynn Dunbar and her brothers Thomas, John and Jean Dunbar.



Ruth was a fourth generation Nebraskan. Ruth’s paternal grandfather was conductor on the Union Pacific Railroad and her maternal grandfather owned a successful South Omaha clothing store. Ruth’s father was a district court judge and Ruth’s mother was a concert and church pianist. Ruth grew up in Nebraska City and was active in music and on the stage and named Little Miss Nebraska City. Ruth attended Clark College and briefly joined the convent, Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, both in Dubuque, Iowa, before returning to Omaha to teach school at Holy Name Catholic School. Ruth met John, a general surgeon, and they married soon thereafter and began a family approximately one year later. And what a beginning it was. Ruth had three children, including one set of twins, before their oldest was a one year old and later was one month away from having five children under three years old. In all, Ruth and John had eight children they raised in St. Margaret Mary’s parish in Omaha.



Amazingly, Ruth found time to pursue other activities and interests, including teaching piano and music, playing a lead role in a production of “Hello Dolly,” and volunteering for many civic and charitable causes, including the Junior League of Omaha. Ruth also later became a licensed insurance agent for the New England Life Insurance Company and worked for many years as office manager in John’s medical office.



Ruth enjoyed tennis and swimming and spending time with grandchildren and her many friends as an adult. Nothing in Ruth’s life was more important than her Catholic faith and she had a lifelong devotion to Blessed Virgin Mary. Ruth, along with John, traveled on many pilgrimages to visit Catholic shrines around the world. Ruth was a person of insatiable energy, focused determination and a true force to reckon with, especially when it came to her faith and family.



On Thursday, November 5, at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, VISITATION will be held beginning at 9:30 A.M. until 10:30am, at which there will be a MASS of CHRISTIAN BURIAL. Interment, Resurrection Cemetery.





To view the services connect with this link:



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