Geraldine Lois Ruzich, 85, died April 12, 2008, at Hospice House, Hutchinson.

She was born Sept. 8, 1922, in Stafford, the daughter of Lloyd Emmett and Myrtle Lenore Minks Burns. She was a 1940, graduate of Sylvia High School and attended Pittsburg State University. She has been a Hutchinson resident since 1942. She was secretary to the Superintendent of Schools U.S.D. No. 308, for 26 years, retiring in June 1988.

She belonged to Trinity United Methodist Church, DUO Sunday School Class, United Methodist Women, PEO Chapter EK, was a lifetime member of the National and State of Kansas Associations of Educational Office Personnel, Mothers Club Board, she served as a volunteer in the Hutchinson Hospital Auxiliary and Wesley Towers. To many she was known as "Hutchinson's Caregiver."

On Feb. 9, 1946, she married Anthony S. "Tony" Ruzich of Hibbing, Minnesota, at Sylvia. He died April 15, 1992.

Survivors include: son, Michael Eugene Ruzich, Dallas; daughters, Patricia Lenore and Linda Marie Ruzich, both of Wichita; brother and sister-in-law, Duane and Jeanette Burns, Hutchinson; sisters, Dorene Krenzin, Seal Beach, California; and numerous nieces, nephews, and a huge extended family of friends.

She was preceded in death by her father in 1980, her mother in 1992, and a half sister, Thelma Faye Dunlap.

Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday April 16, 2008, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 17th and Main, Hutchinson, with Reverend Pat Ault-Duell presiding. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Elliott Mortuary, Hutchinson. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the family home. Burial will be in Penwell-Gabel Cemetery and Mausoleum, Hutchinson.

Memorials may be sent to the DUO Sunday School Class, or Trinity United Methodist Church, both in care of the mortuary.

Personal condolences may be sent to www.elliottmortuary.com.