Ruth (Barrie) Grabau (1921-2011)

GRABAU, BARRIE, TYLER

Posted By: Mark Christian
Date: 8/2/2012 at 09:53:32

From Adams & Soderstrum Funeral Home obituary, Story County, Iowa:

Ruth Grabau

BORN: October 29, 1921

DIED: December 20, 2011

LOCATION: Ames, Iowa

Ruth Barrie Grabau
10/29/1921 - 12/20/2011

Ruth Grabau, 90, of Ames, died December 20 at Bethany Manor, Story City. Memorial Services will be 2 p.m. Dec. 29 at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church.
Ruth Grabau lived most of her 90+ years in Ames and its environs. Soon after graduating from Gilbert High School in 1939 where she was a cheerleader, a performer in several plays, and member of a class of twenty-nine, she landed a job with the Northwestern Bell Telephone Company as a long distance telephone operator—a job that demanded accuracy under pressure and unwavering courtesy toward the customer.

Ruth would serve Ma Bell as a switchboard operator and supervisor for a total of 24 years—with a break from 1945 to 1957 to have four children. As supervisor of operator services, Ruth trained countless new operators, instilling in them the same pride of profession and sisterhood of operators she felt herself. She retired in 1978 following the introduction of technology that made switchboards obsolete.
Ruth married her high school sweetheart, Willard (Bill) C. Grabau, who had volunteered for the navy following Pearl Harbor, on March 11, 1944, during one of his shore leaves in Norfolk, VA. Soon afterward, Bill was shipped to the Pacific where he served on the destroyer U.S.S. Colette. Their marriage produced four children—Tom, Martha, Gary and Joe—and lasted until Bill's death on August 8, 1990.

Ruth and Bill solved the post-war housing shortage in 1946 by buying the one-room Smalley Country School, which opened for classes in 1890 and was abandoned in 1941, at an auction for $800. (At the time, Bill was earning $1 an hour as an electrician at Iowa State College.) They moved the schoolhouse 13.5 miles with the help of family and friends to a lot on the west side of Ames that became 250 South Franklin and remodeled it into a Cape Cod style cottage. In 1979, the Ames Homebuilders Association recognized 250 with a "Pride in Property" award in acknowledgement of exemplary lawn and home care. Ruth would live there for 61 years.

Ruth never saw herself as a trailblazer for women pursuing a career in addition to being a homemaker. It was always about making ends meet. For nearly 20 years, 250 had a peacetime version of a Victory Garden. One summer, Ruth canned 500 quarters of vegetables and fruits working over a hot stove in a house without air conditioning. The purchase of a large freezer in the late 50s may have had a greater impact of the family's lifestyle than the acquisition of a television. With her work load at home reduced, Ruth returned to Ma Bell to become a wage earner working the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. Fortunately, her hours eventually shifted to the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. time slot.

Following retirement, Ruth directed her energies to volunteer activities. She became active in the Pioneers, Ma Bell's retired employee alumni group, for which she organized one-to-two day bus trip adventures. She also served as a docent at the Farm House and the Brunnier Art Museum at Iowa State University and as a receptionist at the Ames City Hall. Each is an example of her curiosity and her courage to try new things.

Gregarious by nature, Ruth was a good friend, a congenial companion and a steadfast family member. She was always there with a helping hand or a casserole when needed. And her friends reciprocated. She made certain her mother and youngest brother had the care and support they needed as they aged.

Ruth taught her children, by example, the fulfilling and redeeming value of work and a job well done—although they didn't appreciate the importance of these lessons until later in life. At an earlier age, they became thankful for her sweet tooth and the cookies, banana bread and kringla she baked for after school snacks. The neighbor kids quickly learned that Ruth's back door was a rewarding place to visit.
Her sense of humor was notorious. Her grandchildren, now adults, still chuckle about the 'surprises' she would pack in the goodie bags she prepared for their car trips home, the devilishly difficult jig-saw puzzles she gave at Christmas, and her unique stocking stuffer gifts.

She could be mischievous, ornery and cranky, and, when really upset, her vocabulary could make a WWII veteran blush. Famous for her frugality, she knew how to 'stretch' a dollar and always got greater satisfaction from saving a dollar than spending one. Maybe this was due to the enduring lessons of the Depression when, as a young girl, she had to put cardboard in her shoes because her family couldn't afford to have them re-soled.

At her core she always strove to provide her family with a better start in life than she had received. She endured her share of hardships with an admirable resilience and steadfast resolve. She will be greatly missed. Hopefully, this country is still producing courageous, ordinary, hard-working people like her and the many others of her generation.

Her parents, Archie and Cora Barrie, and her five siblings, John Barrie, Roscoe Barrie, Marie Barrie Tyler, David Barrie, and Alex Barrie preceded Ruth in death. Four children, six grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren survive her.

Memorials ... in the memory of Ruth Lucille Barrie Grabau, class of 1939

* Gilbert Education Foundaton, 103 Mathews Drive, Gilbert, IA 50105

http://www.adamssoderstrum.com/
 

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