Ruth Marie Thingelstad

Succumbing to the disease of old age and decrepitude - and smiling- Ruth Marie (Pennay) Thingelstad, 85, of Shawnee, Kansas, transitioned in her sleep at home and left the body to go home to God on December 7, 2019.

Marie was born on February 22, 1934, in Wyalusing, PA, to Mary (Sine) and Hartley Pennay. She graduated from Laceyville High School and fell in love with a handsome, wild Norwegian, Rolf Thingelstad. They married in 1952; after 53 years of marriage and five children, he died in 2006. Marie is preceded in death by their son, Ola, of Houston, four brothers: Arthur, Robert, Charles, and Donald Pennay and a sister, Alice Sherwood, and her beloved Corgi, "Bear." She is survived by four daughters: Nancy Schweikhard, Livermore, CA; Karen Hutten, Pittsburgh, PA; Anne Blackburn, Denver, CO; Cindy Norris, Shawnee, KS; and ten grandchildren: Abigayle Tobia, Corey Hutten, Nicolas Schweikhard, Rachel Schweikhard, Troy Norris, Kirsten Hagemann, Erika Thompson, Emely Seaton, Bethany Blackburn and Brady Blackburn, nine great-grandchildren, and two sisters: Jean Sands and Irene Shiffer, both of PA.

As a busy wife and mother and then grandma, Marie worked as a medical secretary, studied beekeeping, organized and led a women's ministry, and in her 50's, earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Mid-America Nazarene College and a master's degree in Religious Studies from Central Baptist Theological Seminary. In her 70's, she settled down to enjoy the "quietism of old age" to play her mandolin and walk her dog.

Marie would want to be remembered for her sharp wit and sense of humor; she could see the irony of life in everything: "Everything changes - nothing stays the same, so you may as well laugh about it." A celebration of life will be held at the Amos Funeral Home in March to allow out of town family to attend. Her ashes will be interred with those of her late husband at the National Cemetery in Leavenworth, Kansas. "I'm not going far. Just think of me, and I will be there."

A memorial service will be held at a later date.