Mary Loretto Ruley Kluesner

Like the roller coasters she loved so much, Mary Loretto Ruley Kluesner experienced a life of fun twists and unexpected turns. Her earthly journey came to an end on February 22, 2014, which happened to be her wedding anniversary. Her 94 years spanned an extraordinary time period, from just after World War I through the 2001 terrorist attacks and beyond. Loretto’s own life was marked by its own seminal events: her father dying when she was five years old, watching her mother work and struggle through the Great Depression to keep the family together, losing her oldest daughter, Mary McCammon, in 1997 as well as newborn infant, Barbara, in 1955. Born on May 13, 1919, in Louisville, Ky., Loretto was the oldest daughter and second of Mary Eunice “Muzzy” Head and Joseph Preston Ruley’s five children. She graduated from Loretto High School in 1936 and attended Clark Business School, where she met her future husband, Winfred Bernard “Wink” Kluesner, Sr. Ten months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, they were married. They would have six children over the next 16 years. In 1962, the family moved to West Virginia and Loretto left Louisville, the only home she had ever known. After Wink died in 1985, Loretto remained in Huntington, WV at their parish, Sacred Heart, and was active in St. Ann’s Circle. In 2001, she moved to Lexington to be closer to most of her family. When it came to basketball, Loretto loved University of Kentucky as much as she disliked Duke. She also enjoyed playing Skee Ball at Camden Park, attending the St. Jerome’s Annual Picnic, taking in the bingo games at the Cathedral of Christ the King Oktoberfest, buying the occasional lottery scratch-off ticket, dinner out and sweets of any kind. Whatever life handed her, Loretto always chose to move forward with stubborn determination and unpredictable humor. In addition to her husband and two children, Loretto was preceded in death by her beloved brother, Joseph Louis “Louie” Ruley and her daughter-in-law of 45 years, Teresa “Teri” Roland Kluesner. She will be missed and remembered by her children, son Winfred Bernard “Bernie” (Linda) Kluesner, Jr. of Beckley, WV; son Charles “Chuck” (Maggie) Kluesner of Richmond, KY; daughter and Loretto’s caregiver, Donna Wheeler, and daughter Beverly (Larry) Bell, both of Lexington; sisters Bernice Hayes and Evelyn James; 13 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren. A visitation is scheduled on Tuesday, February 25th from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Kerr Brothers Funeral Home - Main Street in Lexington. A brief visitation will also be held on Wednesday, February 26th from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church in Huntington, WV. The Funeral Liturgy will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. By Fr. Charles McGinnis. The Rite of Committal will be at Spring Hill Cemetery. Reger Funeral Home in charge of local arrangements Online condolences may be made to the family at www.regerfh.com