Obit of White, Ruth Idora (w300) - Unknown County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 1 Sep 2004 Return to Unknown County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/okstate.html ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== Bakersfield Californian Ruth Idora White March 31, 1918 May 30, 2003 On November 11, 1918, an armistice was signed ending World War I, the great war that began with the assassination of Arch-Duke Ferdinand of Austria. Six moths before the ending of World War I another event happened in the heartland of America which was not noted by the press nor recorded for history. To a poor farm family whose father was second generation German-Prussian and mother of Scotch-Irish English descent, a child was born Easter Sunday, March 31, 1918. This event took place in a log cabin in a small community near Stewart, Oklahoma. The child was named Ruth Idora Heyne. She was the 4th in a line of six siblings, five girls and one boy. The siblings, in birth order, were Lottie, Burnice, Rudy, Idora, Oleta and Pauline. The family lived in the log cabin until Idoras father finished the family home and then the log cabin became a barn for storing crops. The family moved west during the dust bowl years and settled in Brentwood, CA. Idora worked in the fruit every summer earning enough for school clothes and spending money. She married Howard White, September 9, 1936, at the age of 18 and settled into the role of homemaker. She was widowed in 1967, and after being out of school for 32 years, started college. Upon graduation she started her career as an elementary school teacher. After retiring from public school teaching she began teaching English as a second language to immigrants. She also made two trips to the South Pacific with the Assemblies of God MAPS program teaching English and Bible. For 13 years she taught a Bible class at the Teen Challenge Womens Home here in Bakersfield. She thoroughly enjoyed being with the ladies and helping them become rooted and grounded in the Lord. Idora passed away on May 30, 2003, and is survived by her three children, Sherman of Pittsburg, PA; Sylvia of Miami, FL, and Stephen of Newcastle, CA. She is also survived by a sister, Pauline Roth of Magalia, CA; 8 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Unknown County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/okstate.html