Anna Ruth

Powell

Anna Ruth (Ruthie) Kragick Powell was born on April 9, 1924, at her Grandma Kathryn Miller's house in Mansfield, Ohio, as were all four of her siblings (sisters Mary, Annabelle and Esther, brother George). The family moved to the farm on Woodville Rd. in 1936. There was no electricity, no inside water, an outhouse, and a "frost killer" stove. Ruthie remembered having to saw wood and bring it in, take out ashes, carry in water, do her homework by the light of kerosene lamps, stacking hay in the barn, shucking and shelling corn, picking berries, helping in the garden, and gathering eggs. In her words, "You can have the good old days".

Ruthie's early education was in a one-room schoolhouse, where "we also had to carry in water and wood and coal, and the bathroom was outside. Since I was the only person in the 8th grade, I was the smartest and the dumbest". Shortly after graduation from Mansfield High in 1942, she got a job at Westinghouse Electric, which went into WWII production when the war broke out. She met Dave Powell when he was home on leave from Navy service; he went off to the Pacific Theater, while she worked as a riveter on the tail cone section of P-47 fighter planes.  He came home from the Pacific in January,1945, and they married at the age of 20. Ruth and Dave had four children: Victor, Bruce, Patricia and Jeffrey, and moved frequently due to Dave's work as a civil servant for the U.S. Army. Ruth and Dave moved to St. Charles, Missouri in 1965, Honolulu in 1972, Florida, back to Ohio, and back to Missouri, where Dave passed away in 1992.

Ruth's joys in life were reading, her favorite Big Band music, dancing and spending time with her family. She and Dave had purchased 73 acres of "rocks and sticks" in Marthasville, where her sons built her a home in which she would live alone for 28 years. She loved her solitude, and her view of the meadow and woods, often pointing to the far ridge and saying "it's all mine!". She had an infectious laugh, and a mischievous sense of humor, endearing her to all who met her. Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, siblings, husband and son Victor. She is survived by her three children, Bruce (Jane) Powell, Patricia (Yasushi) Ogura and Jeffrey Powell, grandchildren Joe (Nicole) Powell, Angie (Jeff) Orf, David (Jen) Powell, Bennett Ogura, Brennden Ogura, Logan (Kelci) Harkey, Ryan Harkey, six great grandchildren, one cousin (Marilyn Harvey), and many nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held in the spring of 2021. Donations in Ruth's memory can be made to The American Heart Association and Rosie the Riveter Trust.