A memorial service for Ruth Millicent Rounsefell, who co-founded Harry & Ruth's Christmas Tree Farm near Damascus, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Gresham's Free Methodist Church.
Mrs. Rounsefell died Saturday of causes related to age. She was 95. Burial will be at Willamette National Cemetery.
Mrs. Rounsefell, who was one of the first 14 women to earn college degrees in agriculture, also was a world-class athlete who remained physically active all of her life. She took an active role in operating the Christmas tree farm that was an institution in the area until about four years ago.
''She was strong-minded and a woman who didn't give in easily,'' said her son, Robert, who still runs the tree farm. ''She was dynamic and hard-working, and she had influence on lots of people's lives.''
Harry and Ruth's Christmas Tree Farm is well-known for its excursion train on a 2-foot-gauge, half-mile oval track through the tree rows. Visitors to the farm ride the train, cut their trees and ride back.
She was born Oct. 2, 1896, in Sycamore, a community on Johnson Creek east of Lents. Her maiden name was Lingle. She graduated from Union School (Clackamas County) and, in 1915, from Portland's Lincoln High School, where she earned her teaching certificate.
She rode horseback to her teaching jobs at Damascus and Rock Creek rural elmentary schools. She married Harold Wilson in October 1917 and was widowed 13 months later when her husband died in a worldwide flu epidemic.
Because she was left with a 40-acre farm in the Damascus area, she attended Oregon Agricultural College -- now Oregon State University -- to learn how to farm. She graduated with a degree in agriculture in 1924.
She distinguished herself academically and athletically. She tied the world's record in the women's high jump in 1924 at OAC while wearing traditional bloomers and tennis shoes. She jumped 4 feet, 7 1/4 inches, tying the world mark of Catherine Wright of Bridgeport, Conn.
She participated in varsity and class softball and basketball and class track, volleyball, field hockey. She also was on the equestrian team and a member of the college's first rifle club.
She married Harry Rounsefell, a fellow OAC graduate, on Nov. 12, 1927. Harry Rounsefell worked for the U.S. Forest Service during the Depression, and the family moved around the country. After World War II, the family returned to the farm in Damascus, where the Rounsefells raised daffodils, strawberries and, later, Christmas trees.
The Rounsefells also owned the Damascus Telephone Co., where Mrs. Rounsefell was an operator until they sold the company. It now is part of GTE.
Harry Rounsefell died in January 1985.
Mrs. Rounsefell is survived by her sons, James and Robert, both of Damascus; sisters, Clara and Lola, of Stanwood, Wash.; brother, Willis of Bozeman, Mont., eight grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Mrs. Rounsefell died Saturday of causes related to age. She was 95. Burial will be at Willamette National Cemetery.
Mrs. Rounsefell, who was one of the first 14 women to earn college degrees in agriculture, also was a world-class athlete who remained physically active all of her life. She took an active role in operating the Christmas tree farm that was an institution in the area until about four years ago.
''She was strong-minded and a woman who didn't give in easily,'' said her son, Robert, who still runs the tree farm. ''She was dynamic and hard-working, and she had influence on lots of people's lives.''
Harry and Ruth's Christmas Tree Farm is well-known for its excursion train on a 2-foot-gauge, half-mile oval track through the tree rows. Visitors to the farm ride the train, cut their trees and ride back.
She was born Oct. 2, 1896, in Sycamore, a community on Johnson Creek east of Lents. Her maiden name was Lingle. She graduated from Union School (Clackamas County) and, in 1915, from Portland's Lincoln High School, where she earned her teaching certificate.
She rode horseback to her teaching jobs at Damascus and Rock Creek rural elmentary schools. She married Harold Wilson in October 1917 and was widowed 13 months later when her husband died in a worldwide flu epidemic.
Because she was left with a 40-acre farm in the Damascus area, she attended Oregon Agricultural College -- now Oregon State University -- to learn how to farm. She graduated with a degree in agriculture in 1924.
She distinguished herself academically and athletically. She tied the world's record in the women's high jump in 1924 at OAC while wearing traditional bloomers and tennis shoes. She jumped 4 feet, 7 1/4 inches, tying the world mark of Catherine Wright of Bridgeport, Conn.
She participated in varsity and class softball and basketball and class track, volleyball, field hockey. She also was on the equestrian team and a member of the college's first rifle club.
She married Harry Rounsefell, a fellow OAC graduate, on Nov. 12, 1927. Harry Rounsefell worked for the U.S. Forest Service during the Depression, and the family moved around the country. After World War II, the family returned to the farm in Damascus, where the Rounsefells raised daffodils, strawberries and, later, Christmas trees.
The Rounsefells also owned the Damascus Telephone Co., where Mrs. Rounsefell was an operator until they sold the company. It now is part of GTE.
Harry Rounsefell died in January 1985.
Mrs. Rounsefell is survived by her sons, James and Robert, both of Damascus; sisters, Clara and Lola, of Stanwood, Wash.; brother, Willis of Bozeman, Mont., eight grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
A memorial service for Ruth Millicent Rounsefell, who co-founded Harry & Ruth's Christmas Tree Farm near Damascus, will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Gresham's Free Methodist Church.
Mrs. Rounsefell died Saturday of causes related to age. She was 95. Burial will be at Willamette National Cemetery.
Mrs. Rounsefell, who was one of the first 14 women to earn college degrees in agriculture, also was a world-class athlete who remained physically active all of her life. She took an active role in operating the Christmas tree farm that was an institution in the area until about four years ago.
''She was strong-minded and a woman who didn't give in easily,'' said her son, Robert, who still runs the tree farm. ''She was dynamic and hard-working, and she had influence on lots of people's lives.''
Harry and Ruth's Christmas Tree Farm is well-known for its excursion train on a 2-foot-gauge, half-mile oval track through the tree rows. Visitors to the farm ride the train, cut their trees and ride back.
She was born Oct. 2, 1896, in Sycamore, a community on Johnson Creek east of Lents. Her maiden name was Lingle. She graduated from Union School (Clackamas County) and, in 1915, from Portland's Lincoln High School, where she earned her teaching certificate.
She rode horseback to her teaching jobs at Damascus and Rock Creek rural elmentary schools. She married Harold Wilson in October 1917 and was widowed 13 months later when her husband died in a worldwide flu epidemic.
Because she was left with a 40-acre farm in the Damascus area, she attended Oregon Agricultural College -- now Oregon State University -- to learn how to farm. She graduated with a degree in agriculture in 1924.
She distinguished herself academically and athletically. She tied the world's record in the women's high jump in 1924 at OAC while wearing traditional bloomers and tennis shoes. She jumped 4 feet, 7 1/4 inches, tying the world mark of Catherine Wright of Bridgeport, Conn.
She participated in varsity and class softball and basketball and class track, volleyball, field hockey. She also was on the equestrian team and a member of the college's first rifle club.
She married Harry Rounsefell, a fellow OAC graduate, on Nov. 12, 1927. Harry Rounsefell worked for the U.S. Forest Service during the Depression, and the family moved around the country. After World War II, the family returned to the farm in Damascus, where the Rounsefells raised daffodils, strawberries and, later, Christmas trees.
The Rounsefells also owned the Damascus Telephone Co., where Mrs. Rounsefell was an operator until they sold the company. It now is part of GTE.
Harry Rounsefell died in January 1985.
Mrs. Rounsefell is survived by her sons, James and Robert, both of Damascus; sisters, Clara and Lola, of Stanwood, Wash.; brother, Willis of Bozeman, Mont., eight grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Mrs. Rounsefell died Saturday of causes related to age. She was 95. Burial will be at Willamette National Cemetery.
Mrs. Rounsefell, who was one of the first 14 women to earn college degrees in agriculture, also was a world-class athlete who remained physically active all of her life. She took an active role in operating the Christmas tree farm that was an institution in the area until about four years ago.
''She was strong-minded and a woman who didn't give in easily,'' said her son, Robert, who still runs the tree farm. ''She was dynamic and hard-working, and she had influence on lots of people's lives.''
Harry and Ruth's Christmas Tree Farm is well-known for its excursion train on a 2-foot-gauge, half-mile oval track through the tree rows. Visitors to the farm ride the train, cut their trees and ride back.
She was born Oct. 2, 1896, in Sycamore, a community on Johnson Creek east of Lents. Her maiden name was Lingle. She graduated from Union School (Clackamas County) and, in 1915, from Portland's Lincoln High School, where she earned her teaching certificate.
She rode horseback to her teaching jobs at Damascus and Rock Creek rural elmentary schools. She married Harold Wilson in October 1917 and was widowed 13 months later when her husband died in a worldwide flu epidemic.
Because she was left with a 40-acre farm in the Damascus area, she attended Oregon Agricultural College -- now Oregon State University -- to learn how to farm. She graduated with a degree in agriculture in 1924.
She distinguished herself academically and athletically. She tied the world's record in the women's high jump in 1924 at OAC while wearing traditional bloomers and tennis shoes. She jumped 4 feet, 7 1/4 inches, tying the world mark of Catherine Wright of Bridgeport, Conn.
She participated in varsity and class softball and basketball and class track, volleyball, field hockey. She also was on the equestrian team and a member of the college's first rifle club.
She married Harry Rounsefell, a fellow OAC graduate, on Nov. 12, 1927. Harry Rounsefell worked for the U.S. Forest Service during the Depression, and the family moved around the country. After World War II, the family returned to the farm in Damascus, where the Rounsefells raised daffodils, strawberries and, later, Christmas trees.
The Rounsefells also owned the Damascus Telephone Co., where Mrs. Rounsefell was an operator until they sold the company. It now is part of GTE.
Harry Rounsefell died in January 1985.
Mrs. Rounsefell is survived by her sons, James and Robert, both of Damascus; sisters, Clara and Lola, of Stanwood, Wash.; brother, Willis of Bozeman, Mont., eight grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Family Members
See more Rounsefell or Lingle memorials in:
- Willamette National Cemetery Rounsefell or Lingle
- Portland Rounsefell or Lingle
- Multnomah County Rounsefell or Lingle
- Oregon Rounsefell or Lingle
- USA Rounsefell or Lingle
- Find a Grave Rounsefell or Lingle
