Ruthanne (Johnson) Fresonke

Ruthanne (nee: Johnson) Fresonke, age 68, passed away on Monday, September 21, 2020. She is survived by her four sons Michael, Brian, Ben and Rob, her sisters Judy, Barb, Sandy, Renee, Cory, and sister-in-law Kathy, 6 grand kids and many nieces and nephews, all of whom she loved dearly. She was preceded in death by her babies Reene and Ryan, her children’s dad Robert (Bob) Fresonke, her parents Irene and William (Bill) and her brother Bill.

Art was something that Ruthanne had a true passion for, and it was seen in many areas of her life.  While her children were growing up, she started up a campfire boys and girls club in her town and shared arts and crafts while teaching the kids important skills.  She also served as a camp Art teacher each year sharing her talents with many kids and young adults.

While she was living in the upper peninsula of Michigan, she expanded her talents in art into creating amazing unique pieces of art using wood burning.  She combined the wood burning and color pencils to create one of kind creations depicting family, animals and other items people had a love for.  Her wood burnings were given out as prizes every year for a hunter’s round up radio show and sold to many clients including a celebrity.  Her most loved pieces were those of her own family members including the art case she kept herself with the wood burnings of her children and grandchildren.

Art continued to be present as she grew throughout the years.  She shared her passion with her children and grandchildren that have captured that gene from her.  She has taught classes to young and old, ran her own art store, and was even featured as a RAW Natural born artist at a Minneapolis event where she shared her new passion for digital art prints that had their own unique twist on old car photos.

Art was not everything she was passionate about; she had a thirst to learn. She earned multiple degrees with high honors, taught at Michigan State University Extension. She loved to watch documentaries, read books and magazines about interesting facts about the world and history.  She loved learning and documenting everything she could get her hands on when it came to genealogy of her family.  Her passion was not only learning about people and their histories but also antiques and collectibles.  She ran a flea market and has always collected antiques and other collectibles and knew the history around each object.  Her wealth of knowledge gathered over the years would be shared in countless hours of amazing conversation about all these topics.

She was always thinking of other people.  She never missed telling someone happy birthday or wishing her kids a happy anniversary with their spouses.  She helped others in need get food and services and reached out to be a friend to anyone who needed one.

She was such an amazing, talented, old, kind soul who cared so much about everyone around her and will be missed greatly by this world.  She said, “Nature is a virtual canvas of color”, She can now be the angel who watches over all of us painting the sky’s and leaves with her beautiful brush strokes of color and love.

A celebration of life for Ruthanne will be held on October 11, 2020 in Saint Paul, MN. For details please contact Brian Fresonke at FresonkeB@gmail.com

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