Ruth Work

Funeral services for Ruth Evelyn Work of Carmen, Oklahoma will be held at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, November 16, 2008, at the Carmen Christian Church with Rev. Kirk Board and Rev. Dave Keller officiating. Burial will follow in the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery of Carmen. Arrangements are under the direction of Wentworth Mortuary, LLC of Carmen. Ruth Evelyn (Thomas) Work was born February 8, 1914, near Hunter, Oklahoma, to Walter and Lena (Schultz) Thomas and died Thursday, November 13, 2008, at Integris Bass Baptist Health Center, Enid, Oklahoma, after more than 94 busy, happy, useful years in this wonderful world. She attended Sunny Side Rural School, which her mother had also attended and where Ruth later taught. She graduated from Hunter High School with the class of 1932. She was a member of the Oklahoma Honor Society and the High School Band. She participated in the first Tri-State Music Festival in 1932. Ruth attended Central State University in Edmond where she was a member of Triumvirate Debate Club and Alpha Phi Sigma. She later graduated with honors from Northwestern State College in Alva, Oklahoma. She met Robert Linn Work at a Sunday School picnic and the two were married on July 19, 1939, at El Reno, Oklahoma, in the Christian Church parsonage by Rev. M. B. Pringle. They established their home in rural Carmen where they lived for many years. Ruth taught school 25 years, first in rural schools in Garfield and Woods counties, followed by 18 years as the First Grade teacher in Ashland, Kansas. She loved her young students and maintained a lifelong interest in education. One of her greatest delights was to share teaching experiences with her daughter and son who were also teachers. Ruth was a member of the Carmen Christian Church, transferring from the Hunter Christian Church where she had been a member since childhood. She loved Jesus all her long life and would tell of times during childhood when she would manage to hide an illness so she wouldn?t have to miss Sunday School. Prior to retirement, she was a member of the Home Demonstration Club and the Willing Workers Club, as well as helping with Bible School and teaching a Sunday School class. Following her retirement, she and her sister spent five years sharing the care of their elderly mother in Alva, Oklahoma. Later she was a member of the Progressive Study Club, the Rook Club, the Christian Church Missionary Society, the Library Board, and a Library Volunteer. Ruth had many other interests and hobbies which included pen pals, flowers, butterflies, reading, working crossword puzzles, rug making, cooking, playing the piano, sewing, and spending time with her family. She also cared about all of God?s creatures great and small. Ruth will be remembered for her kind, compassionate nature, her hard work ethic, her forgiving spirit, her warm smile and ready laughter, her love for her family and friends, her honesty and her absolute faith in God. In addition to her husband and her parents, she was preceded in death by one brother, Robert Wayne Thomas, who was lost in WWII; and three sisters, Esther Dunbar, Mary Jane Thomas, and Betty Hall. Left with the sorrow of her passing, and the joy of her memory, are her children, Marilyn and Eldon Kennedy of Hunter; Don and Renee` Work of Woodward; Ron and Mary Jane Work of Argonia, Kansas; her grandchildren, Chip and Amy Kennedy of Fredericksburg, Virginia, Chuck Kennedy of Norman, Thomas and Erin Kennedy of Enid, Marci and Bryan Brown of Lamont, Charlie Work of Norman, Nick Work of Norman, Addie Work of Norman; her great grandson, Owen Brown, as well as cousins, nephews, nieces, and a host of friends. Memorial contributions may be made through the funeral home to the Carmen First Responders or the Carmen Christian Church.

Ruth Work

February 8, 1914 - November 13, 2008