News-Register, McMinnville, Oregon, Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Funeral for Ruby Heilinger of Sheridan will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the Sheridan Church of the Nazarene. Private family interment will be in Green Crest Memorial Park, Sheridan.

Mrs. Heilinger died of a heart attack Dec. 12, 2003, in McMinnville. She was 82.

She was born Feb. 8, 1921, in Beavercreek, daughter of Alfred and Mabel Staub. She had 10 sisters and one brother. She was raised and educated in Beavercreek until attending high school in Portland. Upon completing school, she began working in the retail clothing business in Oregon City. That was where she met her husband-to-be, Elwin Heilinger.

After World War II, they married and lived in Oregon City, where their two children were born. The family moved to Cottage Grove and Mr. Heilinger worked in a clothing store. The opportunitly to own their own business arose and the Heilingers moved to Sheridan.

They owned and operated The Merc for 18 years. Mrs. Heilinger was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother whose many interests outside the business included attending sporting, music and drama events in which her children participated. Among her many interests over the years were crafts, gardening and cooking, and she took great pleasure in volunteering in various events and programs, as well as being a avid crossword puzzle worker and professional basketball fan.

Mrs. Heilinger attended and was active in many areas of the Nazarene church.

Survivors include her daughter, Joanne Heilinger of Salem; her son, Gerald Heilinger of Port Orchard, Wash.; three sisters, Agnes Rutherford of Jennings Lodge, Lucile Tervo of Crescent City, Calif., and Eunice Kirchem of Gaston; and five grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1990 and her sixth grandchild in 1995.

Adamson's Sheridan Funeral Home Directors is in charge of arrangements.

Memorial contributions may be made to Doernbecher Children's Hospital Foundation in care of Adamson's, PO Box 10, Sheridan, OR 97378.