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Dr. Keraus, 76, joined the Iowa Wesleyan College faculty in 1960 as assistant professor of music. She was named associate professor of music in 1969 and professor of music in 1974. Keraus retired from fulltime teaching in 1997 and was named Professor Emeritus by the Iowa Wesleyan College Board of Trustees in 1998. She continued to teach part-time until 2005.
"Dr. Keraus has represented the best that Iowa Wesleyan offers," said Dr. Jay Simmons, president of Iowa Wesleyan College. "She gave of her time and talent without reservation. Even in retirement, she continued to be an active and visible presence on campus and in the community. Ruth inspired all of us through her intelligence, energy, and commitment. We will miss her presence, but her influence will be felt for many years to come."
Martha Potts-Bell, public information officer at Iowa Wesleyan, said she has "known her (Dr. Keraus) for many, many years," and has been thinking about her passing over the last couple of days.
"Ruth left a tremendous legacy," Potts-Bell said. "As a teacher, she impacted hundreds of lives, and her students now are able to share that same love and passion and commitment with yet another generation of students. And I think that's the greatest gift she could have given.
"Obviously she was an extraordinary musician, but I guess I wonder if she wouldn't want to be most remembered and thought of as a teacher. I think that's truly what she was first and foremost.
"(She left a) great and lasting impact on the college, of course, but I think the bigger legacy is the lives that she continues to touch," Potts-Bell said, her voice breaking.
Potts-Bell said she was uncomfortable Wednesday with giving out the names and numbers of the people closest to Dr. Keraus because of the deep impact of the loss. Indeed, Carol Nemitz, whom Lynn Ellsoworth called "Ruth's closest friend," had taken a few days off work to grieve and was not taking phone calls when contacted at home Tuesday evening.
Keraus was also a member of the Music Educators National Conference, the College Band Directors' National Association, the American Symphony Orchestra League and the American School Orchestra Association. She served on the music panel for the Iowa Arts Council for four years.
"Ruth Keraus was a person of vision who worked relentlessly to realize what she hoped for the IWC music program, for the Southeast Iowa Symphony, for her church and for the needs of others," said Carl Moehlman, an associate professor emeritus at the college. "She built trust among her professional colleagues, and she was one whose friendship I valued greatly."
For more, see our Feb. 18 print edition.
