Ruth Esther (Rottunda) Jorgenson, of Montevideo, died on Saturday, December 31, 2011, at the Springdale Foster Home, El Paso, Texas, at the age of 88. Funeral services will be conducted on Thursday, January 12, 2012, 11:00 A.M., at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Montevideo with Rev. Donald S. McKee officiating. Visitation will be Wednesday late afternoon and evening at the Anderson Funeral Home in Montevideo with the family present from 5-7 P.M. and a prayer service at 7 P.M. Ruth Esther Rottunda, daughter of Max Carl Frederick Rottunda and Lillian Malvina Swanson, was born on May 31, 1923, at the family home in Baker Township, Osceola County, Iowa. Ruth was baptized in St. John's Lutheran Church at May City, Iowa, on July 22, 1923, and confirmed in April of 1938 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Montevideo. On September 15, 1946, she married Robert Warren Jorgenson, son of Engebret Johannes Jorgenson and Elise Marie Erlandson of Montevideo, at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Montevideo. Ruth was active in her grade school years. Headlines read, "Little Orphan Annie's Recitation Beats Cicero and Wins State Fair Prize". Ruth, then a third grade pupil in Granite Falls, won first prize in the Minnesota State Declamation competition. Chorus and Drama Club were some of her extracurricular activities. After graduating high school in 1941, Ruth attended college and received a two-year teaching certificate from Moorhead State Teachers College, and thereafter taught for three years in elementary school in Clara City, MN. In 1965, Ruth started working for District 129 as a secretary at the Sanford Elementary School in Montevideo. Ruth semi-retired in 1987, but still worked for six weeks each summer as the financial bookkeeper for the West Central Migrant Project. Ruth was an active member of Our Savior's Lutheran Church. She was a Chair and member of the Altar Guild for over twenty years, and active in other women's groups. Ruth also taught adult classes and Sunday School. After full retirement, Ruth enjoyed music, flowers, gardening, games and puzzles, a charm bracelet collection, and visiting with family and friends. She particularly enjoyed singing the songs from old greats such as Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, and Frank Sinatra. Ruth is survived by her four children: Warren and Jan Lee Jorgenson of La Paz, BCS, Mexico, Enid Korsmeyer of Tulsa, OK, Eric and Oraline Jorgenson of Hinckley, OH, Mary (Jorgenson) and Alphonse Mendez of El Paso, TX, nine grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren. Ruth is also survived by two brothers: Ernest Edward Rottunda of Granite Falls, MN, and Theodore Robert Rottunda of Las Vegas, NV; a sister, Dorothy Elsie (Rottunda) Jorgenson of Montevideo, MN, as well as by numerous nieces and nephews. Ruth was preceded in death by her husband Robert W. Jorgenson, her mother Lillian Malvina (Swanson) Rottunda, her father Max Carl Frederick Rottunda, two brothers, Henry Albert Rottunda and Herbert Elmer Rottunda, and by sisters, Veda Louise (Rottunda) Mitlyng and Edith Margaret (Rottunda) Thissen.