Ruth Barkman Liebendorfer

Ruth Barkman Liebendorfer, died peacefully on Thursday, August 29, 2024, in Boise Idaho. She was 92 years old. She was blessed with 3 children: sons Mark Gregory Liebendorfer of Bellevue, WA, Matthew Curtis Liebendorfer of Newton, MA, and Craig Christopher Liebendorfer (Elizabeth) of Medina, WA, as well as seven grandchildren. She is predeceased by her sisters, Elizabeth Anne (“Babsy”) Barkman and Mary Lou Kuehne, and by two of her grandchildren, Garrett Liebendorfer and Ryan Liebendorfer. She is survived by her sister, Sarah Jane Feldmann of Corvallis, Oregon, her sons, and remaining grandchildren.

Ruth will be remembered as a beloved church organist, piano teacher, and prolific dance-band and cocktail pianist, playing, teaching, and bringing joy to many Boiseans through her music since 1960. She retired from her last official “gig”, as the church organist of Boise’s First Baptist (“True Hope”) Church, in 2017. She continued to astonish and touch many of those who heard her spontaneous renditions of great tunes from the American songbook, various musicals, and hymns, from memory, right up until a short time before her death.

Ruth was the daughter of a nurse/opera chorister mother and a Presbyterian minister father. Her parents had been missionary educators in China in the 1920’s – Ruth’s oldest sister, Elizabeth Anne was born there – but had their time in China cut short by the eruption of the Chinese communist revolution. 

Ruth’s Great Depression- and World War II-era childhood featured several moves, as her father was periodically reassigned to different congregations, up and down the “US99” corridor in California, roughly between Sacramento and Fresno. The family lived next to and ministered to churches in Citrus Heights, Winters, Lindsay, and Gustine during Ruth’s childhood. While much was good for the Barkman family of six, they were usually not far from poverty, living simply in the parsonage, growing much of their food and being blessed by gifts from parishioners. Ruth’s father, Charles, already the minister, initially assumed the job of church janitor, as that paid an extra wage aiding his poor family during the Great Depression years. These early experiences planted the seeds for Ruth’s gutsy, hard-working, resourceful life as a mother, partner, and often self-employed musician.

Early musical precociousness paid immediate fringe benefits for little Ruthie there, as her piano-practicing time was often designated for the times when her older sisters, Elizabeth Anne (“Babsy”) and Mary Lou, were obligated to do the dishes and other household chores. These skills also led to her enlistment, at age 11, into the organist’s post at her father’s, Rev. Charles P. Barkman’s church in Lindsay. Reaching the organ pedals was initially a bit of a trick, but Ruthie would not be deterred.

In Ruth’s teen years and within a few years of each other, her little sister Sarah Jane was born, the family was forced to move yet again (this time to Gustine), her older sisters departed, and Rebecca, their mother, died of a heart attack. In short order, Ruth was closer to being the woman of the house than the “baby” of the family she had only recently been. It was a stressful, confusing time, just as her high school years were coming to an end. (Over the years, even to her final days, Ruth would reflect on this tragic, tumultuous time, registering lingering shock and trauma.)

With her coddling mother gone, and partially through the encouragement of a local women’s social group whose members recognized Ruth’s talent, she was encouraged to apply, and was admitted, to the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in Ohio. As a student there, Ruth found courage in the guidance of her Oberlin piano professor. She experienced great growth amid exposure to many cultures and musical styles that had been foreign to her. In the years between her graduation from Oberlin and her return there in 1956 for graduate work, Ruth taught music at the prestigious Chadwick School on California’s Palos Verdes Peninsula. Children of families with names including Minelli, Lear, and Crawford attended Ruth’s music classes, and the general opulence made for a rather eye-opening experience.

After her graduate work at Oberlin, Ruth Barkman moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to be closer to family and to begin her career. From early on, one of the staples of her existence, besides music teaching and church organist posts, was playing cocktail piano in various lounges and other establishments. It was in one such lounge that she met her future husband, Donald Liebendorfer. Don was trying to reform his gambling ways, having just gotten released from prison for writing bad checks, and he asked to attend Ruth’s church the next Sunday morning. This kind of dichotomy typified much of their relationship. After a tumultuous engagement clouded by disappointment and more of Don’s gambling, the couple eventually eloped to Reno, Nevada. Initially, they made their home in Palo Alto, California while Don completed his long-delayed bachelor's degree at Stanford University. Their first son, Mark, was born during this period. Upon Don’s graduation in 1961, they decided to move to Boise, Idaho – a very small town at the time and, most importantly, far from the old gambling temptations – where Don had accepted a job managing a radio station, KEST. Ruth was now pregnant with their second child, Matthew, who was born not long after their arrival in Boise.

Much during the early Boise years was good for the young Liebendorfer family. Ruth began to expand her piano teaching studio, Don found success in broadcasting (including sportscasting on TV and radio), and the boys thrived, expanding to three when Craig was born in 1965. Even though it was a long haul from Santa Clara, California, the Liebendorfers and Ruth’s sister, Mary Lou’s family would exchange visits whenever possible. This relationship continued to be a fundamentally sustaining one for Ruth throughout her life’s many chapters.

After the better part of a dozen years of recovery from gambling, Don eventually allowed himself to succumb to the addiction. Through the slow, agonizing slide into Don’s complete loss of control (and eventual departure), Ruth was courageous and determined to provide for and nurture her sons, getting them through college and providing a solid example of living and working with heart, being generous to others even in the midst of loss, and gracefully accepting help from neighbors and fellow parishioners. Through many close calls, Ruth skillfully held onto the family home, often without her kids even knowing the extent of the tumult.

Throughout the 1960’s and ‘70’s, Ruth established herself as a respected Boise church organist and piano teacher, as well as a gigging entertainer. She played (and often sang, as well) for every sort of religious event, weddings and funerals, all sorts of themed cocktail parties, nursing homes, and even silent movies, and not just at Shakey’s Pizza; In the ‘70’s, when a local group was attempting to save Boise’s Egyptian Theatre from demolition, Ruth played the theater’s organ during silent move-themed fundraisers, with the end-result being the ongoing survival and eventual restoration of what is an iconic, thriving Boise cultural destination to this day. (To view Ruth’s continued beautiful playing, even in 2024, see this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLJUamkiRJDFZyIx_Ucukzyh2tkJCYmft)

Significantly to Ruth, she made a huge impact on the Boise congregations where she almost always had an appointment. These included, but where not limited to All Saints Episcopal, Whitney Methodist, First Presbyterian, Boise Valley Christian Communion, First Baptist, and Capitol City Christian. She maintained relationships with music directors and organists at many other local churches and chapels, as they took turns supporting each other.

Ruth’s piano students, children and adults from the community, were probably her greatest musical joy. She nurtured and taught them, usually in her home studio, and saw hundreds of them through high school graduation and sometimes beyond. Regular student recitals and events were always a point of both loving concern and great pride. Many of her former students continued to keep in touch with Ruth for years after they’d graduated.

She was also a long-time, faithful member of Boise’s Tuesday Musicale, the Whitney Women’s Chorale (where she primarily sang), the American Federation of Musicians’ Local 423, and other cultural and educational organizations.

Along with all of the above, Ruth will be remembered for her loving, spunky, generous way, for her smile even in the midst of overwhelming situations, for being a faithful mother and friend, for the incredible, voluminous songbook in her head, for her uncanny ability to continue playing the organ in church (hands and feet!) while turning to conduct a full-blown conversation with one of her kids, and for so much more. We love you, Mom!

Gifts in memory of Ruth B. Liebendorfer will be gratefully accepted at Boise Rescue Mission/City Light Home for Women and Children (https://boiserm.org/hp-give/), True Hope Downtown Food Pantry (https://www.truehopedowntown.com/general-1), or any other Boise-area charitable organization benefitting the less fortunate.