Ruby Sand of Cokato, Passed away at Cokato Manor on March 18, 2020. A memorial service will take place at a later date.
Ruby Delilah Viola Peterson was born in a log house on October 31, 1923 to Edwin and Cornelia Peterson near Rice Lake, Minnesota. Until she applied for a passport in 1973 and needed a copy of her birth certificate she thought her birthday was on October 30th. Surprise! Ruby graduated from Cokato High School in 1941 and from St. Cloud State Teacher’s College in 1943 with a 2-year teaching certificate. She taught for several years, both before and after getting married, at Howard Lake Schools. After starting a family she also worked in the school cafeteria for many years with her cousins Mae Forsman and Queenie Sieg. Some of the recipes they used are still made at family gatherings today.
Ruby met Milton Sand at a hi-league social at Stockholm Lutheran Church and married him on June 12, 1948 at the age of 24. They started their family in Rice Lake and in 1960 moved to Cokato with their three children. In 1989 Ruby decided it was time to scale down their living space so they sold their home on Borg Road and moved into the Cokato Apartments across from the post office. She lived there with Milton until he moved into the nursing home in 1991 and continued living there on her own until 2016. She moved into Brookridge Assisted Living in May at the ripe age of 92 and moved into Cokato Manor a year and a half later where she continued to delight the staff and other residents with her sweet and smiling nature.
Throughout her life Ruby enjoyed traveling with her friends and family. Prior to meeting Milton, Ruby took a three-week bus trip with her cousin Gloria Bednar and Gloria’s cousin Fern Peterson out to the West coast to visit relatives. She also took a train trip with her cousin Lyla Munson out to New York to visit their boyfriends who were on leave from the war (not Milton!). After marrying Milton they took many trips together, often with her cousins Mae and Norman Forsman.
Ruby also loved spending time with her family at home. Over the years she hosted many of her extended family’s holiday and birthday gatherings. After her grandchildren were born, Ruby watched them before they were old enough to go to school and her home served as a base for them and their friends in Cokato until they went off to college. Ruby enjoyed jigsaw puzzles, watching Lawrence Welk and Jeopardy, coffee with the ladies at the apartment, walking with her friend Vivien Wicker, baking, and gardening. But Ruby’s favorite thing to do was watch the birds and flowers, look out over the lake, and spend time with the dog at her daughter Linnea’s house in the country. The chair she always sat in will forever be known as “Ruby’s Chair” to those she left behind.
Ruby is survived by her daughter, Linnea (Ron) Holm of South Haven; grandchildren Melissa (Will) Holm of Buffalo, and Michael (Christy) Holm of Big Lake; great-grandchild Soren Holm of Big Lake; and sister-in-law Elaine Peterson. She was preceded in death by her husband, Milton; son John Sand, and daughter Judi (Craig) Simon; and by brothers Laurel Peterson and Lloyd Peterson.