Ruth Arlene Hunt
August 16, 1920 - May 18, 2018
Obituary for Ruth Arlene Hunt
AUNT RUTH
(as told to Cheryl Camos)
My Aunt Ruth was fully prepared to share her memories with me when I arrived at her home, pictures and articles were already laid out. This organization was so like her, after all she was a schoolteacher for 30 years. A remarkable woman of humble beginnings, this is her story.
Woodrow Wilson was President when Ruth Harrison Hunt was born at home on August 16, 1920 near Hamilton, Iowa. She isn’t sure why she was the only sibling never given a middle name. So at age 12 she chose one for herself (Arlene). Ruth was the second of eight children born of William Henry and Ethel Fern Harrison. She is the oldest daughter, the oldest living sibling, and the reluctant matriarch of a large extended family. But I think of her as a loving mother duck, sheltering many under her wing.
The Harrison family lived and farmed in a remote part of Marion County, known locally as ‘Johnny Cake Hollow’. Her Aunt Mary and Uncle George lived across the road with their 9 children. Between her cousins and siblings there were plenty of playmates. Cousin Betty was the oldest of their cousin clan, and the closest to Ruth’s age. The children all walked about 2 miles to school, cutting through fields and crossing pastures on the way. The Hamilton school housed 1st through 12th grades. There was no kindergarten at that time, so she started 1st grade at age 5. Her family was financially poor while she was growing up, but Ruth said they were rich in love.
At 16, Ruth and 4 other students graduated from Hamilton High School in 1937. Her first year out of school, she traveled to Indianola, Iowa to work for the Keeton family. She did housework and took care of their 3 girls. There weren’t many options of occupation for a poor girl from ‘Johnny Cake Hollow’ she said. Ruth had a choice between childcare or nursing or teaching. She wanted to be a nurse, but the family didn’t have the money for the training needed.
Ruth settled on teaching and went to summer school at William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa for 10 weeks. She earned her first teaching certificate, which was good for 2 years. The cost was $200, borrowed from the bank. She could have received these teaching courses in high school (called Normal Training), but it was not available in her school.
Her 1st teaching job was in 1939 at West Pella in rural Pleasantville at a 1-room country school. Ruth’s only students were 5 boys, all in different grades. She still remembers them by name, 2 were brothers. She received $50 per month as wages, pretty good for depression years. A couple times letters were received from back home asking for her help. Ruth sent money twice; $25 once for her brother’s senior pictures, and $25 another time to help get the family through until her father could find work on the road. She wanted to teach in a school close to home so she could help her mother, who was battling breast cancer. Being away from her large tight-knit family,
Ruth suffered with homesickness.
Ruth paid $15 per month for room and board at Forrest and Vera Hodgson’s place while she was teaching. She walked about a mile to school every day, rain or shine. She vividly remembers the bad winters and walking through deep snow, over fences when the drifts were deep and ice crusted. She had to arrive early to put up the flag in the morning, and pump water to haul in for the day’s use. Ruth also built the fire in a stove to warm the 1-room schoolhouse using coal that she had brought in the night before. She recalls the coldest days, her hands would be numb and bleeding from building the fire. The outhouse was close by as was a modest playground. No organized sports, just made-up games when weather permitted.
Now 19, Ruth had been dating a young man named Paul Bonnett from Bussey, Iowa. They were at a movie show in Pleasantville when Russell Hunt saw her there. He thought she was the prettiest thing and had to meet her. Later at the rooming house where Ruth was staying, they were getting ready for a box supper social at the schoolhouse down the road. These box socials usually involved the entire community. So they took a shoebox, decorated it, and filled it with food for Ruth to take to the school.
The shoebox suppers were placed together and auctioned off as a fundraiser. Then the girls were to share the box supper with the young man who bid the most on it. The boxes could be decorated with ribbons, lace and flowers, but the owner was to be kept secret. And though they were not labeled with names, it is suspected that Russell found out somehow which decorated shoebox was hers before he bid on it. Ruth attended this social with her boyfriend Paul, but Russell won her supper! Her boyfriend took her home, but Russell came to the schoolhouse to visit her regularly after that. Russell would also send notes and flowers to Ruth with one of her third grade students, Eddie West, who happened to live by his farm.
Then in 1940, Ruth taught at another 1-room school near Tracy, Iowa. This time she had 8-10 students, including girls. Her additional duties were much the same as the previous school, hauling water and coal for the stove. She thought the school years might have been 8 months, instead of 9 like now. There were no snow days, no substitutes if she were sick. She did not remember any discipline problems, saying they were all good kids.
Talk about multitasking, Ruth’s job was not just teaching at these 1-room schools. She was also the principal, custodian/janitor, playground director, lunch attendant, and school nurse. Ruth and the students would put on a Christmas plays for the community and families using ropes and old sheets for stage curtains and costumes. She made fudge to sell for school supplies, the children brought their own lunches. Ruth taught all the subjects for all the grades, assignments were given to the students according to age. There were no long lists of supplies needed, just a tablet of paper and pencils and crayons. She used a chalkboard and books, no maps, no globe.
In 1941 her 2-year teaching certificate expired, so to continue teaching she would have had to further her education. Selflessly, she chose to put her own career on hold and went back home to help out. Ruth’s mother Ethel was sick with breast cancer. She needed help with the housework and care of her younger brothers and sisters. Ruth cooked and cleaned and worked wherever she was needed. The younger girls picked out dresses they liked in catalogs, then Ruth would make a pattern and fashion dresses to look much like the ones they had picked out. Most of the sewing was done on her mother’s treadle machine.
Russell would come to visit over the weekends, but he was always late due to the farming. Ethel encouraged Ruth to marry so she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life at home taking care of everyone else. This is pretty profound and generous planning from her dying mother. Because of her mother’s illness they could not make wedding plans for the future. Ruth was 20 and Russell was 30 when they went to Memphis, Missouri to be married June 14, 1941 in the Methodist Church parsonage. They did not have to wait for a license there, and not knowing anyone, didn’t have witnesses either.
Following a mastectomy and 2-year battle with breast cancer, Ruth’s mother Ethel died at age 38 on July 24, 1941. Though she was married, Ruth stayed at home and cared for her father and the 6 remaining siblings for an additional 8 months until a housekeeper was hired. Ethel had previously signed a paper requesting that Ruth take her youngest sister (Babe) to raise. But their father Henry wouldn’t have it, he wanted the family to stay together.
Ruth and Russell lived for a couple years with his parents Chet and Nannie Hunt on their farm near Swan, Iowa. Russell also came from a large family, being the middle child of seven. He came from generations of farmers. His grandfather homesteaded his farm in 1800. Ruth’s first child was born May 24, 1942 was named Virginia Lorene, but nicknamed Dolly. Their only son Arlos was born Oct 21, 1943. Ruth was a stay-at-home farm wife now, with a family and a garden to take care of.
Ruth recalls listening to President Roosevelt give his Fireside Chats on the radio, and rationing stamps during WWII. When her youngest was 2, someone from the local school board asked her if she would be interested in teaching at Buckeye. It was another 1-room country school near Knoxville. They were still living near Swan, Iowa at the time. Her certificate had expired, and she did not have the additional schooling to receive a proper teaching accreditation. This was 1945 during wartime and there was a shortage of teachers. So ‘war emergency certificates’ were issued to those who had taught before under temporary certificates. There were 9 students of different grades at that school, and Ruth taught there 1 year. Aunt Corrine took care of the kids at her home while she taught and Russell farmed.
Living and working on a farm has more than it’s share of troubles, working with the farm machinery was dangerous. Ruth described several scary times. Their tractor had a power take-off, and if it wasn’t plugged into a combine or another piece of equipment, it would just spin. You had to stay clear of it or be pulled in. In 1948 Russell got caught up in it, but luckily it just ripped off his pants leg. Another time Russell got his hand caught in a hay baler. To keep from being totally pulled in, he used his foot to kick the lever to shut off the machine. Each time could have had tragic results.
On February 27, 1948 daughter Janice was born. She was diagnosed with Empyema, a form of Pneumonia. She had surgery at 2 weeks of age. She remained in the Blank Hospital until she was 2-1/2 months old. At home, she was fed milk from an eyedropper until she grew stronger. In 1953, Russell’s brother Bob was on the school board and asked Ruth if she would teach in the Swan school. The agreement was, if you were working towards your degree they would allow you to teach. So along with raising a family and helping on the farm, Ruth began her years of schooling. Being a teacher, she expected the same hard work and good grades from her own children too.
Russell raised corn, oats, hay and livestock. Son Arlos helped a lot on the farm as he got older, but hated working with the corn grinder. Everyone helped with the chickens and milking the 8-10 cows. They used a hand-cranked separator and sold the cream to buy groceries. Occasionally Indian artifacts and arrowheads would be unearthed while working the land.
The farmland was mostly flat, running along the river bottom. Often the rains would swell and overflow the Des Moines river into the fields. Many times the crops had to be replanted 2 or 3 times in a season. I remember summer family reunions held there, the flat land provided space for games and the huge Elm trees gave cooling shade. There were wide-open spaces where the kids could ride horses. Dolly remembered one time she and Arlos tried to jump the canal and his horse got stuck in the mud, a rescue was made with a truck and log chain.
When Arlos had just turned 12 in 1955, Ruth was at a teacher’s convention out of town. Russell was combining in the field, and Arlos was helping haul in the grain. He was driving the tractor on the road, but pulled over to let a car pass. The tractor slipped into the ditch, flipped over throwing Arlos off, and the steering wheel landed on his head. Luckily the ground was soft with mud that cushioned the blow and saved his life. He was in a coma for 19 days, but miraculously there was no brain damage and he fully recovered. When he finally emerged from the coma, the family asked him what he had been doing. Arlos replied “I been playin’ with the angels”. He was hospitalized for a total of 5-1/2 weeks, and is very lucky to be alive.
The river bottom where they lived, and the surrounding area, was being bought out for the Red Rock Reservoir and Recreational Lake project. Russell was approached many times to sell, but this land was in Russell’s family for generations and he was reluctant to give it up. He fought with the government, but the time came where there was no longer a choice. In 1967 they had to sell and move out since the area was due to be flooded. The Hunt family relocated to Russell’s father’s old home outside of Pleasantville, Iowa. They remodeled the house, used the 20 acres mostly for pastureland, and remain there today. They also bought a farm in Osceola 50 miles away, which Russell would commute to farm.
Ruth and another group of girls took evening and Saturday classes, as well as summer school to earn their teaching degrees. Ruth graduated from Drake University in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. She taught 3rd through 5th grade (all in 1 room) for 5 years until the school closed. Ruth did substitute teaching in Pleasantville for about a year until a friend told her about a teaching position in Attica for the 1st grade. She taught there one year until a teaching position opened up in Pleasantville, near her home. She taught 3rd grade there for 21 years, until she retired in 1981. She enjoyed her 30-year teaching career, except the last few years when the eye problems started. Yet another trial.
It was 1973 when Ruth went in for a routine eye exam to get new glasses. She was shocked by what they found. She was in the early stages of Macular Degeneration, which is deterioration of the retina. The eye doctor was very blunt in telling her that she was going blind and there was nothing he could do, no sympathy in his voice. Her livelihood, her life depended on her eyes and she was devastated. This is a disease where the vision in the middle of the eye progressively gets worse over the years. She saw specialists in Marshalltown and Iowa City and Rochester for other opinions, but the
diagnosis was the same. That’s why the last few years of teaching were so difficult, and why she decided to retire.
The last farm accident happened in 2000. Russell was using a screwdriver to start an old tractor, not realizing it was in gear. The tractor moved forward and knocked him down. The large back wheel continued to grind on him until he made a bridge with his hands to allow the tire to pass over him. The tractor continued forward until it hit the shed, but 1 wheel kept spinning on the cement which caused considerable smoke due to the friction. A neighbor saw the smoke from this, found 89 year old Russell on the ground and called for help. It’s a miracle he only suffered 4 pelvic fractures, spending only 2 weeks in hospital and 3 weeks in rehab. So it could be started properly without using a screwdriver, the tractor was fixed with a 30-cent part. I’ll bet Russell wished he had done that sooner. But that was his way, make do with what you have.
Ruth and Russell were honored to ride in a Shriners’ convertible as grand marshalls in the 2004 Pleasantville 4th of July parade. Russell worked the farm until he died on January 8, 2005 at age 93. They were married 63 yrs. They tragically lost daughter Janice and granddaughter Suzanne on July 25, 1974. Daughter Virginia (Dolly) and her husband Larry live next door to Ruth. Her granddaughter Erin, her husband Brian and 2 kids live just down the road. Ruth is happy they live close by and grateful for their daily help. Son Arlos and his wife Patty live in Ankeny. Ruth’s granddaughter Kristen, husband Ryan and 2 boys live in the Des Moines area. So does grandson Craig and his wife Julia. Her family hosted a great combination Harrison family reunion and 90th birthday party for Ruth in 2010. In a card shower announcement for the newspaper, her granddaughter described Ruth as having a big heart, a beautiful smile, and is a wonderful cook (well known for her pies). Great grandkids Jacob, Emerson, Sean and Ian are her pride and joy.
Aunt Ruth is known to be very generous. If anyone has a need, she does her best to help. Though Ruth is legally blind now, she has read the Bible several times through by sliding the magnifier over one word at a time. She enjoys cooking, visiting with family, and listening to songs that tell a story (like gospel and the ‘old’ country music). Her life has been filled with trials, yet her faith and character and sense of humor remain in tact. Ruth’s favorite mottos are: “Don’t put off till tomorrow, what you can do today” and “One day at a time”. She also wrote poetry in her spare time. This one is my favorite:
“THE COMBINE’S IN THE SHED”
(By Ruth Hunt)
The harvest time is ended
It’s time to look ahead
So good to hear the farmer say,
“The combine’s in the shed.”
From early dawn ‘til sunset
And then a few hours more,
He pulls into the driveway
And now it’s time to chore.
So patiently she listens
(He’s missed another meal)
“The chain broke loose, a belt fell off,
And then we lost a wheel.”
Is it really worth the effort?
Is the labor all in vain?
When it’s time to do the plantin’
Will he do it all again?
From plantin’ till the harvest
To him, it’s such a thrill.
She hopes he will retire someday,
But knows he never will.
With trials never-ending,
It’s not an easy life.
If she had it to do over
She’d still be a farmer’s wife.
For fifty years she’s waited
Listening closely for his tread
With hopeful heart to hear these words,
“The combine’s in the shed.”
The autumn leaves have fallen,
And winter’s just ahead.
What great relief to finally see
The combine’s in the shed.
The country school experience was a big part of Ruth’s life. The little schools were commonplace throughout rural parts of many countries. Even Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the Little House on the Prairie children’s books, attended and taught at a 1-room school. It might surprise you to know that Iowa had over 12,000 1-room schools at it’s peak. But changing populations and better transportation forced school consolidations. One by one, the rural 1-room schools were closed. Some are still in use by the Amish. Others were made into homes. There is a growing passion to get the remaining 1-room schools identified and preserved. Aunt Ruth is among the elite few who taught in a 1-room school. She may have been “old school” literally, but she has taught generations!
August 16, 1920 - May 18, 2018
Obituary for Ruth Arlene Hunt
AUNT RUTH
(as told to Cheryl Camos)
My Aunt Ruth was fully prepared to share her memories with me when I arrived at her home, pictures and articles were already laid out. This organization was so like her, after all she was a schoolteacher for 30 years. A remarkable woman of humble beginnings, this is her story.
Woodrow Wilson was President when Ruth Harrison Hunt was born at home on August 16, 1920 near Hamilton, Iowa. She isn’t sure why she was the only sibling never given a middle name. So at age 12 she chose one for herself (Arlene). Ruth was the second of eight children born of William Henry and Ethel Fern Harrison. She is the oldest daughter, the oldest living sibling, and the reluctant matriarch of a large extended family. But I think of her as a loving mother duck, sheltering many under her wing.
The Harrison family lived and farmed in a remote part of Marion County, known locally as ‘Johnny Cake Hollow’. Her Aunt Mary and Uncle George lived across the road with their 9 children. Between her cousins and siblings there were plenty of playmates. Cousin Betty was the oldest of their cousin clan, and the closest to Ruth’s age. The children all walked about 2 miles to school, cutting through fields and crossing pastures on the way. The Hamilton school housed 1st through 12th grades. There was no kindergarten at that time, so she started 1st grade at age 5. Her family was financially poor while she was growing up, but Ruth said they were rich in love.
At 16, Ruth and 4 other students graduated from Hamilton High School in 1937. Her first year out of school, she traveled to Indianola, Iowa to work for the Keeton family. She did housework and took care of their 3 girls. There weren’t many options of occupation for a poor girl from ‘Johnny Cake Hollow’ she said. Ruth had a choice between childcare or nursing or teaching. She wanted to be a nurse, but the family didn’t have the money for the training needed.
Ruth settled on teaching and went to summer school at William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa for 10 weeks. She earned her first teaching certificate, which was good for 2 years. The cost was $200, borrowed from the bank. She could have received these teaching courses in high school (called Normal Training), but it was not available in her school.
Her 1st teaching job was in 1939 at West Pella in rural Pleasantville at a 1-room country school. Ruth’s only students were 5 boys, all in different grades. She still remembers them by name, 2 were brothers. She received $50 per month as wages, pretty good for depression years. A couple times letters were received from back home asking for her help. Ruth sent money twice; $25 once for her brother’s senior pictures, and $25 another time to help get the family through until her father could find work on the road. She wanted to teach in a school close to home so she could help her mother, who was battling breast cancer. Being away from her large tight-knit family,
Ruth suffered with homesickness.
Ruth paid $15 per month for room and board at Forrest and Vera Hodgson’s place while she was teaching. She walked about a mile to school every day, rain or shine. She vividly remembers the bad winters and walking through deep snow, over fences when the drifts were deep and ice crusted. She had to arrive early to put up the flag in the morning, and pump water to haul in for the day’s use. Ruth also built the fire in a stove to warm the 1-room schoolhouse using coal that she had brought in the night before. She recalls the coldest days, her hands would be numb and bleeding from building the fire. The outhouse was close by as was a modest playground. No organized sports, just made-up games when weather permitted.
Now 19, Ruth had been dating a young man named Paul Bonnett from Bussey, Iowa. They were at a movie show in Pleasantville when Russell Hunt saw her there. He thought she was the prettiest thing and had to meet her. Later at the rooming house where Ruth was staying, they were getting ready for a box supper social at the schoolhouse down the road. These box socials usually involved the entire community. So they took a shoebox, decorated it, and filled it with food for Ruth to take to the school.
The shoebox suppers were placed together and auctioned off as a fundraiser. Then the girls were to share the box supper with the young man who bid the most on it. The boxes could be decorated with ribbons, lace and flowers, but the owner was to be kept secret. And though they were not labeled with names, it is suspected that Russell found out somehow which decorated shoebox was hers before he bid on it. Ruth attended this social with her boyfriend Paul, but Russell won her supper! Her boyfriend took her home, but Russell came to the schoolhouse to visit her regularly after that. Russell would also send notes and flowers to Ruth with one of her third grade students, Eddie West, who happened to live by his farm.
Then in 1940, Ruth taught at another 1-room school near Tracy, Iowa. This time she had 8-10 students, including girls. Her additional duties were much the same as the previous school, hauling water and coal for the stove. She thought the school years might have been 8 months, instead of 9 like now. There were no snow days, no substitutes if she were sick. She did not remember any discipline problems, saying they were all good kids.
Talk about multitasking, Ruth’s job was not just teaching at these 1-room schools. She was also the principal, custodian/janitor, playground director, lunch attendant, and school nurse. Ruth and the students would put on a Christmas plays for the community and families using ropes and old sheets for stage curtains and costumes. She made fudge to sell for school supplies, the children brought their own lunches. Ruth taught all the subjects for all the grades, assignments were given to the students according to age. There were no long lists of supplies needed, just a tablet of paper and pencils and crayons. She used a chalkboard and books, no maps, no globe.
In 1941 her 2-year teaching certificate expired, so to continue teaching she would have had to further her education. Selflessly, she chose to put her own career on hold and went back home to help out. Ruth’s mother Ethel was sick with breast cancer. She needed help with the housework and care of her younger brothers and sisters. Ruth cooked and cleaned and worked wherever she was needed. The younger girls picked out dresses they liked in catalogs, then Ruth would make a pattern and fashion dresses to look much like the ones they had picked out. Most of the sewing was done on her mother’s treadle machine.
Russell would come to visit over the weekends, but he was always late due to the farming. Ethel encouraged Ruth to marry so she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life at home taking care of everyone else. This is pretty profound and generous planning from her dying mother. Because of her mother’s illness they could not make wedding plans for the future. Ruth was 20 and Russell was 30 when they went to Memphis, Missouri to be married June 14, 1941 in the Methodist Church parsonage. They did not have to wait for a license there, and not knowing anyone, didn’t have witnesses either.
Following a mastectomy and 2-year battle with breast cancer, Ruth’s mother Ethel died at age 38 on July 24, 1941. Though she was married, Ruth stayed at home and cared for her father and the 6 remaining siblings for an additional 8 months until a housekeeper was hired. Ethel had previously signed a paper requesting that Ruth take her youngest sister (Babe) to raise. But their father Henry wouldn’t have it, he wanted the family to stay together.
Ruth and Russell lived for a couple years with his parents Chet and Nannie Hunt on their farm near Swan, Iowa. Russell also came from a large family, being the middle child of seven. He came from generations of farmers. His grandfather homesteaded his farm in 1800. Ruth’s first child was born May 24, 1942 was named Virginia Lorene, but nicknamed Dolly. Their only son Arlos was born Oct 21, 1943. Ruth was a stay-at-home farm wife now, with a family and a garden to take care of.
Ruth recalls listening to President Roosevelt give his Fireside Chats on the radio, and rationing stamps during WWII. When her youngest was 2, someone from the local school board asked her if she would be interested in teaching at Buckeye. It was another 1-room country school near Knoxville. They were still living near Swan, Iowa at the time. Her certificate had expired, and she did not have the additional schooling to receive a proper teaching accreditation. This was 1945 during wartime and there was a shortage of teachers. So ‘war emergency certificates’ were issued to those who had taught before under temporary certificates. There were 9 students of different grades at that school, and Ruth taught there 1 year. Aunt Corrine took care of the kids at her home while she taught and Russell farmed.
Living and working on a farm has more than it’s share of troubles, working with the farm machinery was dangerous. Ruth described several scary times. Their tractor had a power take-off, and if it wasn’t plugged into a combine or another piece of equipment, it would just spin. You had to stay clear of it or be pulled in. In 1948 Russell got caught up in it, but luckily it just ripped off his pants leg. Another time Russell got his hand caught in a hay baler. To keep from being totally pulled in, he used his foot to kick the lever to shut off the machine. Each time could have had tragic results.
On February 27, 1948 daughter Janice was born. She was diagnosed with Empyema, a form of Pneumonia. She had surgery at 2 weeks of age. She remained in the Blank Hospital until she was 2-1/2 months old. At home, she was fed milk from an eyedropper until she grew stronger. In 1953, Russell’s brother Bob was on the school board and asked Ruth if she would teach in the Swan school. The agreement was, if you were working towards your degree they would allow you to teach. So along with raising a family and helping on the farm, Ruth began her years of schooling. Being a teacher, she expected the same hard work and good grades from her own children too.
Russell raised corn, oats, hay and livestock. Son Arlos helped a lot on the farm as he got older, but hated working with the corn grinder. Everyone helped with the chickens and milking the 8-10 cows. They used a hand-cranked separator and sold the cream to buy groceries. Occasionally Indian artifacts and arrowheads would be unearthed while working the land.
The farmland was mostly flat, running along the river bottom. Often the rains would swell and overflow the Des Moines river into the fields. Many times the crops had to be replanted 2 or 3 times in a season. I remember summer family reunions held there, the flat land provided space for games and the huge Elm trees gave cooling shade. There were wide-open spaces where the kids could ride horses. Dolly remembered one time she and Arlos tried to jump the canal and his horse got stuck in the mud, a rescue was made with a truck and log chain.
When Arlos had just turned 12 in 1955, Ruth was at a teacher’s convention out of town. Russell was combining in the field, and Arlos was helping haul in the grain. He was driving the tractor on the road, but pulled over to let a car pass. The tractor slipped into the ditch, flipped over throwing Arlos off, and the steering wheel landed on his head. Luckily the ground was soft with mud that cushioned the blow and saved his life. He was in a coma for 19 days, but miraculously there was no brain damage and he fully recovered. When he finally emerged from the coma, the family asked him what he had been doing. Arlos replied “I been playin’ with the angels”. He was hospitalized for a total of 5-1/2 weeks, and is very lucky to be alive.
The river bottom where they lived, and the surrounding area, was being bought out for the Red Rock Reservoir and Recreational Lake project. Russell was approached many times to sell, but this land was in Russell’s family for generations and he was reluctant to give it up. He fought with the government, but the time came where there was no longer a choice. In 1967 they had to sell and move out since the area was due to be flooded. The Hunt family relocated to Russell’s father’s old home outside of Pleasantville, Iowa. They remodeled the house, used the 20 acres mostly for pastureland, and remain there today. They also bought a farm in Osceola 50 miles away, which Russell would commute to farm.
Ruth and another group of girls took evening and Saturday classes, as well as summer school to earn their teaching degrees. Ruth graduated from Drake University in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. She taught 3rd through 5th grade (all in 1 room) for 5 years until the school closed. Ruth did substitute teaching in Pleasantville for about a year until a friend told her about a teaching position in Attica for the 1st grade. She taught there one year until a teaching position opened up in Pleasantville, near her home. She taught 3rd grade there for 21 years, until she retired in 1981. She enjoyed her 30-year teaching career, except the last few years when the eye problems started. Yet another trial.
It was 1973 when Ruth went in for a routine eye exam to get new glasses. She was shocked by what they found. She was in the early stages of Macular Degeneration, which is deterioration of the retina. The eye doctor was very blunt in telling her that she was going blind and there was nothing he could do, no sympathy in his voice. Her livelihood, her life depended on her eyes and she was devastated. This is a disease where the vision in the middle of the eye progressively gets worse over the years. She saw specialists in Marshalltown and Iowa City and Rochester for other opinions, but the
diagnosis was the same. That’s why the last few years of teaching were so difficult, and why she decided to retire.
The last farm accident happened in 2000. Russell was using a screwdriver to start an old tractor, not realizing it was in gear. The tractor moved forward and knocked him down. The large back wheel continued to grind on him until he made a bridge with his hands to allow the tire to pass over him. The tractor continued forward until it hit the shed, but 1 wheel kept spinning on the cement which caused considerable smoke due to the friction. A neighbor saw the smoke from this, found 89 year old Russell on the ground and called for help. It’s a miracle he only suffered 4 pelvic fractures, spending only 2 weeks in hospital and 3 weeks in rehab. So it could be started properly without using a screwdriver, the tractor was fixed with a 30-cent part. I’ll bet Russell wished he had done that sooner. But that was his way, make do with what you have.
Ruth and Russell were honored to ride in a Shriners’ convertible as grand marshalls in the 2004 Pleasantville 4th of July parade. Russell worked the farm until he died on January 8, 2005 at age 93. They were married 63 yrs. They tragically lost daughter Janice and granddaughter Suzanne on July 25, 1974. Daughter Virginia (Dolly) and her husband Larry live next door to Ruth. Her granddaughter Erin, her husband Brian and 2 kids live just down the road. Ruth is happy they live close by and grateful for their daily help. Son Arlos and his wife Patty live in Ankeny. Ruth’s granddaughter Kristen, husband Ryan and 2 boys live in the Des Moines area. So does grandson Craig and his wife Julia. Her family hosted a great combination Harrison family reunion and 90th birthday party for Ruth in 2010. In a card shower announcement for the newspaper, her granddaughter described Ruth as having a big heart, a beautiful smile, and is a wonderful cook (well known for her pies). Great grandkids Jacob, Emerson, Sean and Ian are her pride and joy.
Aunt Ruth is known to be very generous. If anyone has a need, she does her best to help. Though Ruth is legally blind now, she has read the Bible several times through by sliding the magnifier over one word at a time. She enjoys cooking, visiting with family, and listening to songs that tell a story (like gospel and the ‘old’ country music). Her life has been filled with trials, yet her faith and character and sense of humor remain in tact. Ruth’s favorite mottos are: “Don’t put off till tomorrow, what you can do today” and “One day at a time”. She also wrote poetry in her spare time. This one is my favorite:
“THE COMBINE’S IN THE SHED”
(By Ruth Hunt)
The harvest time is ended
It’s time to look ahead
So good to hear the farmer say,
“The combine’s in the shed.”
From early dawn ‘til sunset
And then a few hours more,
He pulls into the driveway
And now it’s time to chore.
So patiently she listens
(He’s missed another meal)
“The chain broke loose, a belt fell off,
And then we lost a wheel.”
Is it really worth the effort?
Is the labor all in vain?
When it’s time to do the plantin’
Will he do it all again?
From plantin’ till the harvest
To him, it’s such a thrill.
She hopes he will retire someday,
But knows he never will.
With trials never-ending,
It’s not an easy life.
If she had it to do over
She’d still be a farmer’s wife.
For fifty years she’s waited
Listening closely for his tread
With hopeful heart to hear these words,
“The combine’s in the shed.”
The autumn leaves have fallen,
And winter’s just ahead.
What great relief to finally see
The combine’s in the shed.
The country school experience was a big part of Ruth’s life. The little schools were commonplace throughout rural parts of many countries. Even Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the Little House on the Prairie children’s books, attended and taught at a 1-room school. It might surprise you to know that Iowa had over 12,000 1-room schools at it’s peak. But changing populations and better transportation forced school consolidations. One by one, the rural 1-room schools were closed. Some are still in use by the Amish. Others were made into homes. There is a growing passion to get the remaining 1-room schools identified and preserved. Aunt Ruth is among the elite few who taught in a 1-room school. She may have been “old school” literally, but she has taught generations!
Ruth Arlene Hunt
August 16, 1920 - May 18, 2018
Obituary for Ruth Arlene Hunt
AUNT RUTH
(as told to Cheryl Camos)
My Aunt Ruth was fully prepared to share her memories with me when I arrived at her home, pictures and articles were already laid out. This organization was so like her, after all she was a schoolteacher for 30 years. A remarkable woman of humble beginnings, this is her story.
Woodrow Wilson was President when Ruth Harrison Hunt was born at home on August 16, 1920 near Hamilton, Iowa. She isn’t sure why she was the only sibling never given a middle name. So at age 12 she chose one for herself (Arlene). Ruth was the second of eight children born of William Henry and Ethel Fern Harrison. She is the oldest daughter, the oldest living sibling, and the reluctant matriarch of a large extended family. But I think of her as a loving mother duck, sheltering many under her wing.
The Harrison family lived and farmed in a remote part of Marion County, known locally as ‘Johnny Cake Hollow’. Her Aunt Mary and Uncle George lived across the road with their 9 children. Between her cousins and siblings there were plenty of playmates. Cousin Betty was the oldest of their cousin clan, and the closest to Ruth’s age. The children all walked about 2 miles to school, cutting through fields and crossing pastures on the way. The Hamilton school housed 1st through 12th grades. There was no kindergarten at that time, so she started 1st grade at age 5. Her family was financially poor while she was growing up, but Ruth said they were rich in love.
At 16, Ruth and 4 other students graduated from Hamilton High School in 1937. Her first year out of school, she traveled to Indianola, Iowa to work for the Keeton family. She did housework and took care of their 3 girls. There weren’t many options of occupation for a poor girl from ‘Johnny Cake Hollow’ she said. Ruth had a choice between childcare or nursing or teaching. She wanted to be a nurse, but the family didn’t have the money for the training needed.
Ruth settled on teaching and went to summer school at William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa for 10 weeks. She earned her first teaching certificate, which was good for 2 years. The cost was $200, borrowed from the bank. She could have received these teaching courses in high school (called Normal Training), but it was not available in her school.
Her 1st teaching job was in 1939 at West Pella in rural Pleasantville at a 1-room country school. Ruth’s only students were 5 boys, all in different grades. She still remembers them by name, 2 were brothers. She received $50 per month as wages, pretty good for depression years. A couple times letters were received from back home asking for her help. Ruth sent money twice; $25 once for her brother’s senior pictures, and $25 another time to help get the family through until her father could find work on the road. She wanted to teach in a school close to home so she could help her mother, who was battling breast cancer. Being away from her large tight-knit family,
Ruth suffered with homesickness.
Ruth paid $15 per month for room and board at Forrest and Vera Hodgson’s place while she was teaching. She walked about a mile to school every day, rain or shine. She vividly remembers the bad winters and walking through deep snow, over fences when the drifts were deep and ice crusted. She had to arrive early to put up the flag in the morning, and pump water to haul in for the day’s use. Ruth also built the fire in a stove to warm the 1-room schoolhouse using coal that she had brought in the night before. She recalls the coldest days, her hands would be numb and bleeding from building the fire. The outhouse was close by as was a modest playground. No organized sports, just made-up games when weather permitted.
Now 19, Ruth had been dating a young man named Paul Bonnett from Bussey, Iowa. They were at a movie show in Pleasantville when Russell Hunt saw her there. He thought she was the prettiest thing and had to meet her. Later at the rooming house where Ruth was staying, they were getting ready for a box supper social at the schoolhouse down the road. These box socials usually involved the entire community. So they took a shoebox, decorated it, and filled it with food for Ruth to take to the school.
The shoebox suppers were placed together and auctioned off as a fundraiser. Then the girls were to share the box supper with the young man who bid the most on it. The boxes could be decorated with ribbons, lace and flowers, but the owner was to be kept secret. And though they were not labeled with names, it is suspected that Russell found out somehow which decorated shoebox was hers before he bid on it. Ruth attended this social with her boyfriend Paul, but Russell won her supper! Her boyfriend took her home, but Russell came to the schoolhouse to visit her regularly after that. Russell would also send notes and flowers to Ruth with one of her third grade students, Eddie West, who happened to live by his farm.
Then in 1940, Ruth taught at another 1-room school near Tracy, Iowa. This time she had 8-10 students, including girls. Her additional duties were much the same as the previous school, hauling water and coal for the stove. She thought the school years might have been 8 months, instead of 9 like now. There were no snow days, no substitutes if she were sick. She did not remember any discipline problems, saying they were all good kids.
Talk about multitasking, Ruth’s job was not just teaching at these 1-room schools. She was also the principal, custodian/janitor, playground director, lunch attendant, and school nurse. Ruth and the students would put on a Christmas plays for the community and families using ropes and old sheets for stage curtains and costumes. She made fudge to sell for school supplies, the children brought their own lunches. Ruth taught all the subjects for all the grades, assignments were given to the students according to age. There were no long lists of supplies needed, just a tablet of paper and pencils and crayons. She used a chalkboard and books, no maps, no globe.
In 1941 her 2-year teaching certificate expired, so to continue teaching she would have had to further her education. Selflessly, she chose to put her own career on hold and went back home to help out. Ruth’s mother Ethel was sick with breast cancer. She needed help with the housework and care of her younger brothers and sisters. Ruth cooked and cleaned and worked wherever she was needed. The younger girls picked out dresses they liked in catalogs, then Ruth would make a pattern and fashion dresses to look much like the ones they had picked out. Most of the sewing was done on her mother’s treadle machine.
Russell would come to visit over the weekends, but he was always late due to the farming. Ethel encouraged Ruth to marry so she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life at home taking care of everyone else. This is pretty profound and generous planning from her dying mother. Because of her mother’s illness they could not make wedding plans for the future. Ruth was 20 and Russell was 30 when they went to Memphis, Missouri to be married June 14, 1941 in the Methodist Church parsonage. They did not have to wait for a license there, and not knowing anyone, didn’t have witnesses either.
Following a mastectomy and 2-year battle with breast cancer, Ruth’s mother Ethel died at age 38 on July 24, 1941. Though she was married, Ruth stayed at home and cared for her father and the 6 remaining siblings for an additional 8 months until a housekeeper was hired. Ethel had previously signed a paper requesting that Ruth take her youngest sister (Babe) to raise. But their father Henry wouldn’t have it, he wanted the family to stay together.
Ruth and Russell lived for a couple years with his parents Chet and Nannie Hunt on their farm near Swan, Iowa. Russell also came from a large family, being the middle child of seven. He came from generations of farmers. His grandfather homesteaded his farm in 1800. Ruth’s first child was born May 24, 1942 was named Virginia Lorene, but nicknamed Dolly. Their only son Arlos was born Oct 21, 1943. Ruth was a stay-at-home farm wife now, with a family and a garden to take care of.
Ruth recalls listening to President Roosevelt give his Fireside Chats on the radio, and rationing stamps during WWII. When her youngest was 2, someone from the local school board asked her if she would be interested in teaching at Buckeye. It was another 1-room country school near Knoxville. They were still living near Swan, Iowa at the time. Her certificate had expired, and she did not have the additional schooling to receive a proper teaching accreditation. This was 1945 during wartime and there was a shortage of teachers. So ‘war emergency certificates’ were issued to those who had taught before under temporary certificates. There were 9 students of different grades at that school, and Ruth taught there 1 year. Aunt Corrine took care of the kids at her home while she taught and Russell farmed.
Living and working on a farm has more than it’s share of troubles, working with the farm machinery was dangerous. Ruth described several scary times. Their tractor had a power take-off, and if it wasn’t plugged into a combine or another piece of equipment, it would just spin. You had to stay clear of it or be pulled in. In 1948 Russell got caught up in it, but luckily it just ripped off his pants leg. Another time Russell got his hand caught in a hay baler. To keep from being totally pulled in, he used his foot to kick the lever to shut off the machine. Each time could have had tragic results.
On February 27, 1948 daughter Janice was born. She was diagnosed with Empyema, a form of Pneumonia. She had surgery at 2 weeks of age. She remained in the Blank Hospital until she was 2-1/2 months old. At home, she was fed milk from an eyedropper until she grew stronger. In 1953, Russell’s brother Bob was on the school board and asked Ruth if she would teach in the Swan school. The agreement was, if you were working towards your degree they would allow you to teach. So along with raising a family and helping on the farm, Ruth began her years of schooling. Being a teacher, she expected the same hard work and good grades from her own children too.
Russell raised corn, oats, hay and livestock. Son Arlos helped a lot on the farm as he got older, but hated working with the corn grinder. Everyone helped with the chickens and milking the 8-10 cows. They used a hand-cranked separator and sold the cream to buy groceries. Occasionally Indian artifacts and arrowheads would be unearthed while working the land.
The farmland was mostly flat, running along the river bottom. Often the rains would swell and overflow the Des Moines river into the fields. Many times the crops had to be replanted 2 or 3 times in a season. I remember summer family reunions held there, the flat land provided space for games and the huge Elm trees gave cooling shade. There were wide-open spaces where the kids could ride horses. Dolly remembered one time she and Arlos tried to jump the canal and his horse got stuck in the mud, a rescue was made with a truck and log chain.
When Arlos had just turned 12 in 1955, Ruth was at a teacher’s convention out of town. Russell was combining in the field, and Arlos was helping haul in the grain. He was driving the tractor on the road, but pulled over to let a car pass. The tractor slipped into the ditch, flipped over throwing Arlos off, and the steering wheel landed on his head. Luckily the ground was soft with mud that cushioned the blow and saved his life. He was in a coma for 19 days, but miraculously there was no brain damage and he fully recovered. When he finally emerged from the coma, the family asked him what he had been doing. Arlos replied “I been playin’ with the angels”. He was hospitalized for a total of 5-1/2 weeks, and is very lucky to be alive.
The river bottom where they lived, and the surrounding area, was being bought out for the Red Rock Reservoir and Recreational Lake project. Russell was approached many times to sell, but this land was in Russell’s family for generations and he was reluctant to give it up. He fought with the government, but the time came where there was no longer a choice. In 1967 they had to sell and move out since the area was due to be flooded. The Hunt family relocated to Russell’s father’s old home outside of Pleasantville, Iowa. They remodeled the house, used the 20 acres mostly for pastureland, and remain there today. They also bought a farm in Osceola 50 miles away, which Russell would commute to farm.
Ruth and another group of girls took evening and Saturday classes, as well as summer school to earn their teaching degrees. Ruth graduated from Drake University in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. She taught 3rd through 5th grade (all in 1 room) for 5 years until the school closed. Ruth did substitute teaching in Pleasantville for about a year until a friend told her about a teaching position in Attica for the 1st grade. She taught there one year until a teaching position opened up in Pleasantville, near her home. She taught 3rd grade there for 21 years, until she retired in 1981. She enjoyed her 30-year teaching career, except the last few years when the eye problems started. Yet another trial.
It was 1973 when Ruth went in for a routine eye exam to get new glasses. She was shocked by what they found. She was in the early stages of Macular Degeneration, which is deterioration of the retina. The eye doctor was very blunt in telling her that she was going blind and there was nothing he could do, no sympathy in his voice. Her livelihood, her life depended on her eyes and she was devastated. This is a disease where the vision in the middle of the eye progressively gets worse over the years. She saw specialists in Marshalltown and Iowa City and Rochester for other opinions, but the
diagnosis was the same. That’s why the last few years of teaching were so difficult, and why she decided to retire.
The last farm accident happened in 2000. Russell was using a screwdriver to start an old tractor, not realizing it was in gear. The tractor moved forward and knocked him down. The large back wheel continued to grind on him until he made a bridge with his hands to allow the tire to pass over him. The tractor continued forward until it hit the shed, but 1 wheel kept spinning on the cement which caused considerable smoke due to the friction. A neighbor saw the smoke from this, found 89 year old Russell on the ground and called for help. It’s a miracle he only suffered 4 pelvic fractures, spending only 2 weeks in hospital and 3 weeks in rehab. So it could be started properly without using a screwdriver, the tractor was fixed with a 30-cent part. I’ll bet Russell wished he had done that sooner. But that was his way, make do with what you have.
Ruth and Russell were honored to ride in a Shriners’ convertible as grand marshalls in the 2004 Pleasantville 4th of July parade. Russell worked the farm until he died on January 8, 2005 at age 93. They were married 63 yrs. They tragically lost daughter Janice and granddaughter Suzanne on July 25, 1974. Daughter Virginia (Dolly) and her husband Larry live next door to Ruth. Her granddaughter Erin, her husband Brian and 2 kids live just down the road. Ruth is happy they live close by and grateful for their daily help. Son Arlos and his wife Patty live in Ankeny. Ruth’s granddaughter Kristen, husband Ryan and 2 boys live in the Des Moines area. So does grandson Craig and his wife Julia. Her family hosted a great combination Harrison family reunion and 90th birthday party for Ruth in 2010. In a card shower announcement for the newspaper, her granddaughter described Ruth as having a big heart, a beautiful smile, and is a wonderful cook (well known for her pies). Great grandkids Jacob, Emerson, Sean and Ian are her pride and joy.
Aunt Ruth is known to be very generous. If anyone has a need, she does her best to help. Though Ruth is legally blind now, she has read the Bible several times through by sliding the magnifier over one word at a time. She enjoys cooking, visiting with family, and listening to songs that tell a story (like gospel and the ‘old’ country music). Her life has been filled with trials, yet her faith and character and sense of humor remain in tact. Ruth’s favorite mottos are: “Don’t put off till tomorrow, what you can do today” and “One day at a time”. She also wrote poetry in her spare time. This one is my favorite:
“THE COMBINE’S IN THE SHED”
(By Ruth Hunt)
The harvest time is ended
It’s time to look ahead
So good to hear the farmer say,
“The combine’s in the shed.”
From early dawn ‘til sunset
And then a few hours more,
He pulls into the driveway
And now it’s time to chore.
So patiently she listens
(He’s missed another meal)
“The chain broke loose, a belt fell off,
And then we lost a wheel.”
Is it really worth the effort?
Is the labor all in vain?
When it’s time to do the plantin’
Will he do it all again?
From plantin’ till the harvest
To him, it’s such a thrill.
She hopes he will retire someday,
But knows he never will.
With trials never-ending,
It’s not an easy life.
If she had it to do over
She’d still be a farmer’s wife.
For fifty years she’s waited
Listening closely for his tread
With hopeful heart to hear these words,
“The combine’s in the shed.”
The autumn leaves have fallen,
And winter’s just ahead.
What great relief to finally see
The combine’s in the shed.
The country school experience was a big part of Ruth’s life. The little schools were commonplace throughout rural parts of many countries. Even Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the Little House on the Prairie children’s books, attended and taught at a 1-room school. It might surprise you to know that Iowa had over 12,000 1-room schools at it’s peak. But changing populations and better transportation forced school consolidations. One by one, the rural 1-room schools were closed. Some are still in use by the Amish. Others were made into homes. There is a growing passion to get the remaining 1-room schools identified and preserved. Aunt Ruth is among the elite few who taught in a 1-room school. She may have been “old school” literally, but she has taught generations!
August 16, 1920 - May 18, 2018
Obituary for Ruth Arlene Hunt
AUNT RUTH
(as told to Cheryl Camos)
My Aunt Ruth was fully prepared to share her memories with me when I arrived at her home, pictures and articles were already laid out. This organization was so like her, after all she was a schoolteacher for 30 years. A remarkable woman of humble beginnings, this is her story.
Woodrow Wilson was President when Ruth Harrison Hunt was born at home on August 16, 1920 near Hamilton, Iowa. She isn’t sure why she was the only sibling never given a middle name. So at age 12 she chose one for herself (Arlene). Ruth was the second of eight children born of William Henry and Ethel Fern Harrison. She is the oldest daughter, the oldest living sibling, and the reluctant matriarch of a large extended family. But I think of her as a loving mother duck, sheltering many under her wing.
The Harrison family lived and farmed in a remote part of Marion County, known locally as ‘Johnny Cake Hollow’. Her Aunt Mary and Uncle George lived across the road with their 9 children. Between her cousins and siblings there were plenty of playmates. Cousin Betty was the oldest of their cousin clan, and the closest to Ruth’s age. The children all walked about 2 miles to school, cutting through fields and crossing pastures on the way. The Hamilton school housed 1st through 12th grades. There was no kindergarten at that time, so she started 1st grade at age 5. Her family was financially poor while she was growing up, but Ruth said they were rich in love.
At 16, Ruth and 4 other students graduated from Hamilton High School in 1937. Her first year out of school, she traveled to Indianola, Iowa to work for the Keeton family. She did housework and took care of their 3 girls. There weren’t many options of occupation for a poor girl from ‘Johnny Cake Hollow’ she said. Ruth had a choice between childcare or nursing or teaching. She wanted to be a nurse, but the family didn’t have the money for the training needed.
Ruth settled on teaching and went to summer school at William Penn College in Oskaloosa, Iowa for 10 weeks. She earned her first teaching certificate, which was good for 2 years. The cost was $200, borrowed from the bank. She could have received these teaching courses in high school (called Normal Training), but it was not available in her school.
Her 1st teaching job was in 1939 at West Pella in rural Pleasantville at a 1-room country school. Ruth’s only students were 5 boys, all in different grades. She still remembers them by name, 2 were brothers. She received $50 per month as wages, pretty good for depression years. A couple times letters were received from back home asking for her help. Ruth sent money twice; $25 once for her brother’s senior pictures, and $25 another time to help get the family through until her father could find work on the road. She wanted to teach in a school close to home so she could help her mother, who was battling breast cancer. Being away from her large tight-knit family,
Ruth suffered with homesickness.
Ruth paid $15 per month for room and board at Forrest and Vera Hodgson’s place while she was teaching. She walked about a mile to school every day, rain or shine. She vividly remembers the bad winters and walking through deep snow, over fences when the drifts were deep and ice crusted. She had to arrive early to put up the flag in the morning, and pump water to haul in for the day’s use. Ruth also built the fire in a stove to warm the 1-room schoolhouse using coal that she had brought in the night before. She recalls the coldest days, her hands would be numb and bleeding from building the fire. The outhouse was close by as was a modest playground. No organized sports, just made-up games when weather permitted.
Now 19, Ruth had been dating a young man named Paul Bonnett from Bussey, Iowa. They were at a movie show in Pleasantville when Russell Hunt saw her there. He thought she was the prettiest thing and had to meet her. Later at the rooming house where Ruth was staying, they were getting ready for a box supper social at the schoolhouse down the road. These box socials usually involved the entire community. So they took a shoebox, decorated it, and filled it with food for Ruth to take to the school.
The shoebox suppers were placed together and auctioned off as a fundraiser. Then the girls were to share the box supper with the young man who bid the most on it. The boxes could be decorated with ribbons, lace and flowers, but the owner was to be kept secret. And though they were not labeled with names, it is suspected that Russell found out somehow which decorated shoebox was hers before he bid on it. Ruth attended this social with her boyfriend Paul, but Russell won her supper! Her boyfriend took her home, but Russell came to the schoolhouse to visit her regularly after that. Russell would also send notes and flowers to Ruth with one of her third grade students, Eddie West, who happened to live by his farm.
Then in 1940, Ruth taught at another 1-room school near Tracy, Iowa. This time she had 8-10 students, including girls. Her additional duties were much the same as the previous school, hauling water and coal for the stove. She thought the school years might have been 8 months, instead of 9 like now. There were no snow days, no substitutes if she were sick. She did not remember any discipline problems, saying they were all good kids.
Talk about multitasking, Ruth’s job was not just teaching at these 1-room schools. She was also the principal, custodian/janitor, playground director, lunch attendant, and school nurse. Ruth and the students would put on a Christmas plays for the community and families using ropes and old sheets for stage curtains and costumes. She made fudge to sell for school supplies, the children brought their own lunches. Ruth taught all the subjects for all the grades, assignments were given to the students according to age. There were no long lists of supplies needed, just a tablet of paper and pencils and crayons. She used a chalkboard and books, no maps, no globe.
In 1941 her 2-year teaching certificate expired, so to continue teaching she would have had to further her education. Selflessly, she chose to put her own career on hold and went back home to help out. Ruth’s mother Ethel was sick with breast cancer. She needed help with the housework and care of her younger brothers and sisters. Ruth cooked and cleaned and worked wherever she was needed. The younger girls picked out dresses they liked in catalogs, then Ruth would make a pattern and fashion dresses to look much like the ones they had picked out. Most of the sewing was done on her mother’s treadle machine.
Russell would come to visit over the weekends, but he was always late due to the farming. Ethel encouraged Ruth to marry so she wouldn’t spend the rest of her life at home taking care of everyone else. This is pretty profound and generous planning from her dying mother. Because of her mother’s illness they could not make wedding plans for the future. Ruth was 20 and Russell was 30 when they went to Memphis, Missouri to be married June 14, 1941 in the Methodist Church parsonage. They did not have to wait for a license there, and not knowing anyone, didn’t have witnesses either.
Following a mastectomy and 2-year battle with breast cancer, Ruth’s mother Ethel died at age 38 on July 24, 1941. Though she was married, Ruth stayed at home and cared for her father and the 6 remaining siblings for an additional 8 months until a housekeeper was hired. Ethel had previously signed a paper requesting that Ruth take her youngest sister (Babe) to raise. But their father Henry wouldn’t have it, he wanted the family to stay together.
Ruth and Russell lived for a couple years with his parents Chet and Nannie Hunt on their farm near Swan, Iowa. Russell also came from a large family, being the middle child of seven. He came from generations of farmers. His grandfather homesteaded his farm in 1800. Ruth’s first child was born May 24, 1942 was named Virginia Lorene, but nicknamed Dolly. Their only son Arlos was born Oct 21, 1943. Ruth was a stay-at-home farm wife now, with a family and a garden to take care of.
Ruth recalls listening to President Roosevelt give his Fireside Chats on the radio, and rationing stamps during WWII. When her youngest was 2, someone from the local school board asked her if she would be interested in teaching at Buckeye. It was another 1-room country school near Knoxville. They were still living near Swan, Iowa at the time. Her certificate had expired, and she did not have the additional schooling to receive a proper teaching accreditation. This was 1945 during wartime and there was a shortage of teachers. So ‘war emergency certificates’ were issued to those who had taught before under temporary certificates. There were 9 students of different grades at that school, and Ruth taught there 1 year. Aunt Corrine took care of the kids at her home while she taught and Russell farmed.
Living and working on a farm has more than it’s share of troubles, working with the farm machinery was dangerous. Ruth described several scary times. Their tractor had a power take-off, and if it wasn’t plugged into a combine or another piece of equipment, it would just spin. You had to stay clear of it or be pulled in. In 1948 Russell got caught up in it, but luckily it just ripped off his pants leg. Another time Russell got his hand caught in a hay baler. To keep from being totally pulled in, he used his foot to kick the lever to shut off the machine. Each time could have had tragic results.
On February 27, 1948 daughter Janice was born. She was diagnosed with Empyema, a form of Pneumonia. She had surgery at 2 weeks of age. She remained in the Blank Hospital until she was 2-1/2 months old. At home, she was fed milk from an eyedropper until she grew stronger. In 1953, Russell’s brother Bob was on the school board and asked Ruth if she would teach in the Swan school. The agreement was, if you were working towards your degree they would allow you to teach. So along with raising a family and helping on the farm, Ruth began her years of schooling. Being a teacher, she expected the same hard work and good grades from her own children too.
Russell raised corn, oats, hay and livestock. Son Arlos helped a lot on the farm as he got older, but hated working with the corn grinder. Everyone helped with the chickens and milking the 8-10 cows. They used a hand-cranked separator and sold the cream to buy groceries. Occasionally Indian artifacts and arrowheads would be unearthed while working the land.
The farmland was mostly flat, running along the river bottom. Often the rains would swell and overflow the Des Moines river into the fields. Many times the crops had to be replanted 2 or 3 times in a season. I remember summer family reunions held there, the flat land provided space for games and the huge Elm trees gave cooling shade. There were wide-open spaces where the kids could ride horses. Dolly remembered one time she and Arlos tried to jump the canal and his horse got stuck in the mud, a rescue was made with a truck and log chain.
When Arlos had just turned 12 in 1955, Ruth was at a teacher’s convention out of town. Russell was combining in the field, and Arlos was helping haul in the grain. He was driving the tractor on the road, but pulled over to let a car pass. The tractor slipped into the ditch, flipped over throwing Arlos off, and the steering wheel landed on his head. Luckily the ground was soft with mud that cushioned the blow and saved his life. He was in a coma for 19 days, but miraculously there was no brain damage and he fully recovered. When he finally emerged from the coma, the family asked him what he had been doing. Arlos replied “I been playin’ with the angels”. He was hospitalized for a total of 5-1/2 weeks, and is very lucky to be alive.
The river bottom where they lived, and the surrounding area, was being bought out for the Red Rock Reservoir and Recreational Lake project. Russell was approached many times to sell, but this land was in Russell’s family for generations and he was reluctant to give it up. He fought with the government, but the time came where there was no longer a choice. In 1967 they had to sell and move out since the area was due to be flooded. The Hunt family relocated to Russell’s father’s old home outside of Pleasantville, Iowa. They remodeled the house, used the 20 acres mostly for pastureland, and remain there today. They also bought a farm in Osceola 50 miles away, which Russell would commute to farm.
Ruth and another group of girls took evening and Saturday classes, as well as summer school to earn their teaching degrees. Ruth graduated from Drake University in 1963 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. She taught 3rd through 5th grade (all in 1 room) for 5 years until the school closed. Ruth did substitute teaching in Pleasantville for about a year until a friend told her about a teaching position in Attica for the 1st grade. She taught there one year until a teaching position opened up in Pleasantville, near her home. She taught 3rd grade there for 21 years, until she retired in 1981. She enjoyed her 30-year teaching career, except the last few years when the eye problems started. Yet another trial.
It was 1973 when Ruth went in for a routine eye exam to get new glasses. She was shocked by what they found. She was in the early stages of Macular Degeneration, which is deterioration of the retina. The eye doctor was very blunt in telling her that she was going blind and there was nothing he could do, no sympathy in his voice. Her livelihood, her life depended on her eyes and she was devastated. This is a disease where the vision in the middle of the eye progressively gets worse over the years. She saw specialists in Marshalltown and Iowa City and Rochester for other opinions, but the
diagnosis was the same. That’s why the last few years of teaching were so difficult, and why she decided to retire.
The last farm accident happened in 2000. Russell was using a screwdriver to start an old tractor, not realizing it was in gear. The tractor moved forward and knocked him down. The large back wheel continued to grind on him until he made a bridge with his hands to allow the tire to pass over him. The tractor continued forward until it hit the shed, but 1 wheel kept spinning on the cement which caused considerable smoke due to the friction. A neighbor saw the smoke from this, found 89 year old Russell on the ground and called for help. It’s a miracle he only suffered 4 pelvic fractures, spending only 2 weeks in hospital and 3 weeks in rehab. So it could be started properly without using a screwdriver, the tractor was fixed with a 30-cent part. I’ll bet Russell wished he had done that sooner. But that was his way, make do with what you have.
Ruth and Russell were honored to ride in a Shriners’ convertible as grand marshalls in the 2004 Pleasantville 4th of July parade. Russell worked the farm until he died on January 8, 2005 at age 93. They were married 63 yrs. They tragically lost daughter Janice and granddaughter Suzanne on July 25, 1974. Daughter Virginia (Dolly) and her husband Larry live next door to Ruth. Her granddaughter Erin, her husband Brian and 2 kids live just down the road. Ruth is happy they live close by and grateful for their daily help. Son Arlos and his wife Patty live in Ankeny. Ruth’s granddaughter Kristen, husband Ryan and 2 boys live in the Des Moines area. So does grandson Craig and his wife Julia. Her family hosted a great combination Harrison family reunion and 90th birthday party for Ruth in 2010. In a card shower announcement for the newspaper, her granddaughter described Ruth as having a big heart, a beautiful smile, and is a wonderful cook (well known for her pies). Great grandkids Jacob, Emerson, Sean and Ian are her pride and joy.
Aunt Ruth is known to be very generous. If anyone has a need, she does her best to help. Though Ruth is legally blind now, she has read the Bible several times through by sliding the magnifier over one word at a time. She enjoys cooking, visiting with family, and listening to songs that tell a story (like gospel and the ‘old’ country music). Her life has been filled with trials, yet her faith and character and sense of humor remain in tact. Ruth’s favorite mottos are: “Don’t put off till tomorrow, what you can do today” and “One day at a time”. She also wrote poetry in her spare time. This one is my favorite:
“THE COMBINE’S IN THE SHED”
(By Ruth Hunt)
The harvest time is ended
It’s time to look ahead
So good to hear the farmer say,
“The combine’s in the shed.”
From early dawn ‘til sunset
And then a few hours more,
He pulls into the driveway
And now it’s time to chore.
So patiently she listens
(He’s missed another meal)
“The chain broke loose, a belt fell off,
And then we lost a wheel.”
Is it really worth the effort?
Is the labor all in vain?
When it’s time to do the plantin’
Will he do it all again?
From plantin’ till the harvest
To him, it’s such a thrill.
She hopes he will retire someday,
But knows he never will.
With trials never-ending,
It’s not an easy life.
If she had it to do over
She’d still be a farmer’s wife.
For fifty years she’s waited
Listening closely for his tread
With hopeful heart to hear these words,
“The combine’s in the shed.”
The autumn leaves have fallen,
And winter’s just ahead.
What great relief to finally see
The combine’s in the shed.
The country school experience was a big part of Ruth’s life. The little schools were commonplace throughout rural parts of many countries. Even Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the Little House on the Prairie children’s books, attended and taught at a 1-room school. It might surprise you to know that Iowa had over 12,000 1-room schools at it’s peak. But changing populations and better transportation forced school consolidations. One by one, the rural 1-room schools were closed. Some are still in use by the Amish. Others were made into homes. There is a growing passion to get the remaining 1-room schools identified and preserved. Aunt Ruth is among the elite few who taught in a 1-room school. She may have been “old school” literally, but she has taught generations!
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