Ruth Ida (Denker) Eppenbaugh was born March 13, 1918, at the family ranch at Haydraw, SD. She was the fifth of eight children born to John and Ida (Spitzenberger) Denker. Ruth attended the Strong Elementary School at Haydraw, graduated from Sturgis High School and earned a B. S. in Education from Black Hills State College.

Ruth married George Eppenbaugh at Sturgis, SD, on October 30, 1940. They ranched at his family home at Hereford, SD, for approximately 50 years. Ruth also taught school for 39 years in the Meade County School District before retiring in 1982. Ruth is fondly remembered by her many students, that span over three generations, as a teacher that not only taught them well, but cared about them. During her years as a teacher, Ruth received the South Dakota Department of Education Teacher of the Year Award for 1976 and received a Certificate of Recognition for her teaching service to the State of SD signed by Governor George Mickelson.

Ruth moved from the ranch at Hereford to Rapid City in 1987. On the ranch, she attended the Hereford Community Baptist Church for many years and after moving to Rapid City, she attended the First Evangelical Free Church for over 10 years.

Ruth, 80, Rapid City, died Wednesday, May 6, 1998, at Meadowbrook Manor in Rapid City,

Ruth is survived by one son, John Eppenbaugh, Aurora, CO; one daughter and her husband, Jeanne and Mike Iversen, Rapid City, SD; one grandson, Michael Iversen, Rapid City; one brother, George Denker, Caldwell, ID; four sisters, Kathryn Harwood and Fern O'Connor, Sturgis, and Mary Goodrich and Lillian Denker, Rapid City; and seventeen nieces and nephews.

Ruth was preceded in death by George Eppenbaugh of Sturgis on February 9, 1998, her parents, two brothers, Robert Denker of Pierre, SD, and Henry Denker of Lakewood, CO, and two nephews.