Ruth Mildred Brinker

Ruth Mildred Brinker of Springdale, Ark., died Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012, on her 92nd birthday at the Maples at Har-Ber Meadows in Springdale. She was born in Raeville, Neb., in 1920, to Cornelius and Mayme Heithoff Bock. Ruth married Joseph Peter Brinker on May 24, 1943, in Scranton, Iowa. She was devoted to the care of her family and enjoyed cooking, gardening, stamp collecting and reading. She and her husband moved to Springdale in 1983. She was a member of St. Raphael Catholic Church. She was preceded in death by her husband in 2006; three brothers, Vernon and Donald Bock, both of whom died while serving in WWII, and Howard Bock; three sisters, Ione Bock, Jean Rector and husband, Elvin, Bernice Kohles and husband, Fred; and a sister-in-law, Mary Ann Bock. She is survived by seven children, Norman Brinker of Corpus Christi, Texas, James Brinker and wife, JoAnn, of Dudley, Mass., Clayton Brinker and wife, Sharon, of West Des Moines, Iowa, Stanley Brinker of Bloomington, Ill., Lyle Brinker and wife, Judy, of Jefferson, Iowa, Patricia Trampel and husband, Mike, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Dale Brinker and wife, Monica, of Tontitown, Ark.; a brother, Ralph Bock of Glidden, Iowa; two sisters, Phyllis Tigges and husband, Norbert, of Dexter, Iowa, Shirley Clark and husband, Warren, of Lake City, Iowa; a sister-in-law, Ruth Ann (Whittry) Bock of Hamlin, Iowa; 23 grandchildren; and 21 great-grandchildren. Mass of Christian burial will be 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 21, at St. Raphael Catholic Church. Interment will be at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Tontitown. A rosary and visitation will be from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Heritage Funeral Home. Messages to the family may be sent online by visiting the guest book at www.heritageofnwa.com. Memorial contributions may be made to Circle of Life Hospice, 901 Jones Road, Springdale, AR 72762; or to St. Raphael Catholic Church, 1386 S. West End St., Springdale, AR 72764.