Ruth Tjossem

Sibley, Iowa Mrs. Ruth Trusty Tjossem, age 96 of Jackson, MS, formerly of Sibley, IA entered into rest February 7, 2014 at Saint Catherines Village, Madison, Mississippi, after a lengthy illness. Graveside service will be postponed until 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 22, 2014 at the Holman Township Cemetery in Sibley, IA. Mrs. Tjossem was born September 1, 1917, in Vermillion, South Dakota, to the late Olive Edna Trusty and William Chauncey Trusty. She had two sisters: the late Vera Trusty Stachour and the late Charlotte Trusty Norris. She graduated from Sibley High School, and in 1941, she married the late Oliver Paul Tjossem (Retired Colonel, U.S. Army), also of Sibley, to whom she was married for 72 years until his death in February, 2013. She was preceded in death by a son, William Paul Tjossem. She is survived by her daughters, Marcy Tjossem Wilkinson (Charles) of Grovetown, Georgia, and Susan Kirkpatrick Merrill (Robert) of Madison, Mississippi. She was a loving grandmother to her surviving grandchildren, Elizabeth Wilkinson Harley (Michael), Melissa Wilkinson Stewart (Duane), Catherine Wilkinson, William Paul Kirkpatrick (Sylvia), and the late Allison Leigh Kirkpatrick. She is survived by eight great-grandchildren, and by her nephew, James E. Stachour (Phyllis) and her niece, Judith Braucht. Following her marriage to Oliver Paul Tjossem on December 1, 1941, she spent the war years at home while her husband was in training and then deployed for the invasion of Europe. Following the end of World War Two, their first overseas assignment was Wurtzburg, Germany, where arriving in 1952, they found the city still in ruins from the war. As an Army Wife, she found herself being stationed at many interesting places, such as Taiwan, where she had the occasion to dine with Madame Chiang Kai-shek, wife of the president of the Republic of China. She and her husband were stationed at Fort Monroe, Fort Benning, and Fort Sill as well as overseas in Europe and Taiwan. She took advantage of the overseas assignments to travel to most of Europe. She also hosted many Army Wives functions and met many people from all over. She lived a long and fruitful life. She will be greatly missed by all those who loved her.