Ruth Irene "Myers" Himebaugh
Ruth Irene "Myers" Smee Himebaugh, 93, passed from this life August 23, 2015, in Wichita Falls, Texas. She was born January 29, 1922, in Guernsey, Wyoming, to Jacob D. and Nettie May Lucinda "Carbah" Myers.
When she was a preschooler Ruth's family moved by covered wagon from Guernsey, in the southeast corner of Wyoming to Buffalo, in the northeast part of the state, nestled by the Big Horn Mountains. The trip took two weeks. On the way her younger sister Inez rode with their dad in the front wagon. When anyone passed them, Inez would wave. If they didn't wave back her dad taught her to yell "Go to grass" at them.
The family were sharecroppers in the Red Hills east of Buffalo. They rode horses and scared off rustlers (yes, even the girls did this). The children attended a one-room school house that initially had only six students, including Ruth, who was only five at the time.
Ruth had a life-long friend, Alvina Curuchet. They attended grades one through twelve together and have been friends ever since. Alvina's family were sheepherders and still are.
Ruth's first husband was a lumberjack named Robert W. Smee. The lived in the mountains until he was killed in World War II. They had one son, Wilson. Because of Robert's wartime death Ruth was designated a Gold Star Wife. She was also a longtime member of the Ladies Auxiliary of VFW Post #2469.
Her second husband was Coin F. Himebaugh. They lived in Michigan and had three children, Susan, Linda and Roy. He died at age forty-one. After his death the family moved back to Wyoming where Ruth often had to kill deer to feed them.
Ruth worked as a retail clerk for a time and was a nurses aide in several nursing homes over the years. She retired from the hospital in Yuma, Arizona, having worked in central supply for ten years.
She was a member of the American Association of Medical Assistants as well as the Arizona and Yuma Chapters. She loved the Lord Jesus Christ and had been a devoted Christian since her teenage years. She taught Sunday School at the First Baptist Church in Buffalo, was a member of Valley Baptist Church in Yuma for many years, and had been worshipping God at Calvary Chapel since moving to Snowflake. She made many quilts for missionaries and family members in the past thirty years. Her children, grandchildren, and "great-grands" were her pride and joy. She was a "mountain girl" at heart and spoke often of her beloved Bighorn Mountains and Buffalo.
She was preceded in death by her parents Jacob and Nettie Myers, her husband Robert W. Smee, her husband Coin F. Himebaugh, her brother Art Myers, her sisters Amy Smee and Inez James, and her son-in-law Fred L. Jones.
Survivors include: her sons W. Robert "Bob" Smee and his wife Sharon of Marietta, OK, and Roy F. Himebaugh and his wife DeeAnn of Waurika, OK; her daughters Susan K. Jones of Snowflake, AZ, and Linda M. and her husband Tom Barton of Independence, KS; her sister-in-law Betty "Himebaugh" Blocksom of Fischers, IN; nineteen grandchildren and twenty-nine great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM, Saturday, September 19, 2015, at the Waurika Church of Christ with Roy Himebaugh, Bob Smee and Tom Barton officiating. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, 901 Indiana, Ste 350, Wichita Falls, TX 76301. In the spring her cremains will be buried with her mother in Willow Grove Cemetery at the foot of the mountains she loved so much.