Ruth E. Gardner, 89, of Warrensburg, died Wednesday, Nov. 18, at Warrensburg Manor Care Center.

Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24, at Sweeney-Phillips & Holdren Funeral Home in Warrensburg. The family will receive friends from 1 p.m. until service time.
Interment will follow at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Lincoln, Missouri.
Ruth was born on March 9, 1926, to James Albert and Eller Lee Clouse Swearngin near Warsaw, Missouri.
She married Paul Brigham Gardner of Lincoln, Missouri, on Aug. 17, 1957.
Ruth is survived by a brother, Dock Swearngin, of Lincoln, Missouri; three daughters, Paula Flores and husband, Mike, of Centerview, Missouri; Zetta Sue Lakey and husband, Jeff, of Warrensbur; and Brenda  Gardner, of Warrensburg; a son, Lonnie Gardner, and wife, Jackie, of Warrensburg; two stepsons, Paul B. Gardner Jr. and wife, Freda, of Warsaw, Missouri; and James Gardner and wife, Cookie, of Fristoe, Missouri; eight grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; two nieces; three nephews; and many nurses and friends at the Manor.
Ruth was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Paul; a daughter, Melinda Ruth; a son, James W. Reaves; a stepson, Bobby Gardner; two sisters, Ollie McMillin and Mary Hammond; and one brother, Jack Swearngin.
 
Memorial contributions are suggested to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Society or checks made payable to Sue Lakey and can be left in care of the funeral home.