By Janet Seever
As a great-grandmother, Ruth Lieske strongly believes in investing in other people through carefully cultivated friendships. “I like to think that I have impacted some people’s lives,” she says. At 95 years young, Ruth has an amazing amount of energy and is still reaching out and making friends.
Living a Nomadic Lifestyle
Ruth and her husband, Pastor Albert Lieske, first came to CSC in 1974 after his retirement from pastoral ministry. Ruth was hired to work in the CSC office, where she worked for 20 years in what was then a two-person operation in the old church. She and Sharon Vandale shared the office. Ruth eventually worked in finance, and now, well past retirement age, still volunteers at the chapel in Chartwell Harbours in finance each week. Her husband served as chaplain of the hospital ministry at CSC for a number of years and passed away in 2004.
A difficult question for Ruth to answer is, “Where are you from?” As the daughter of a pastor of the Evangelical Church denomination, her family often moved while she was growing up. Then she married a pastor, which led to a rather nomadic lifestyle. Her husband first served in three small country churches in Morse, Glenbane, and Rush Lake at the same time, and later pastored three small Alberta country churches in Three Hills, Torrington, and Beiseker, also at the same time. A church plant in Saskatoon and a church in Medicine Hat were also part of his resume.
When asked what her favourite verse is, Ruth responded, “There are so many verses. When a verse is meaningful to me, I underline it in red.” Now her whole Bible is underlined in red!
Precious Memories
Ruth’s husband Albert was a trained singer as well as being a pastor. When doctors diagnosed lung cancer in 2003, he was given just four months to live, but it stretched out to 18 months. While he battled the lung cancer, he was unable to sing for a whole year because of his greatly reduced lung capacity. His one wish was to sing at the opening service of the new Centre Street Church building.
“Albert got his final wish,” Ruth recalls. “He sang at two church services and got a standing ovation at both services.” Albert died in September 2004.
When asked what encouragement she would have for widows, Ruth responded, “I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have the Lord.” Then she stated, “It’s hard to answer because everyone goes through their grieving differently.”
“I think it’s a healing process to talk about your loved ones,” Ruth said. “Otherwise you just keep it bottled up inside.” She still has days of extreme loneliness after losing her husband 12 years ago.
Her family consisted of five children, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, but two of her sons are now with the Lord.
One unmarried son passed away at the age of 40, just two years after Ruth’s husband went to be with the Lord. It was on a Sunday morning, and when he didn’t come to church, Ruth noticed his absence because he usually sat with her. Ruth stopped at his apartment after church and found him sitting on the couch, dead. The cause of his death was never determined.
“All his life, he felt that he was nothing and had low self esteem,” says Ruth. "He had some personal struggles he was working hard to overcome. I feel he died of a broken heart. And yet, the many friends that came to his service were an indication that he had touched many lives."
Another son died in February 2016 of cancer, and he is missed greatly by the entire family, but his grandchildren especially miss their Papa. Some people have a hard time talking about the loss of loved ones, but Ruth thinks it’s the best thing in the world to talk about those you have lost. “I think it’s a healing process,” she says.
Her family now consists of two daughters and one son. One of her daughters is Val Lieske who leads Fire Exit Theatre and teaches at Ambrose University.
Impacting lives through Friendship
Ruth has some definite thoughts about friendship. “I like to think that I have impacted some people’s lives,” she says. “I feel that friendships have to be cultivated and worked at. Friendship can’t be a one-sided thing. One thing my husband and I did was entertain a lot. If we saw someone new in church, when the church was smaller, we would invite them over, possibly with another couple, even if it was just for a cup of coffee.”
When a new neighbour moves in, she likes to visit them with a pan of fresh muffins or a pie. Just a few days ago, she had lunch with her former neighbour and recalls how this close friendship was built. When the couple first moved in, Ruth and Albert watched for an opportunity to develop a friendship. Ruth was baking an apple pie at the time, and when she saw they were at home, she took the pie out of the oven and immediately took it over to them. The couple has come to church numerous times, and they are the “closest of friends.”
Once the Lieskes had next-door neighbours who worked during the day, so Albert would always shovel their sidewalk when it snowed. When he passed away, that neighbour came over and said, “You will never have to worry about your walks. I’ll shovel them for you.” And the man did for seven years. The couple came to her husband’s funeral and heard the gospel. She keeps praying for these people.
Now there is a new Syrian family in the neighbourhood. They don’t speak English and Ruth, in trying to think of a way to reach out to them, took them a pie. She is waiting to see if this will develop into a new friendship.
All of her former neighbours are still friends of hers, she is still in contact with them, and she prays for them. “I think that’s a treasure,” Ruth says. “You have to make a real effort to make friends.”
Yes, Ruth’s friendships are a real treasure.