Ruth Harriet (Wingfield) Kennedy |
| Posted 2008-11-21 by Judy Wight Branson |
| The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, Arizona Wednesday, November 28, 2007 Ruth Kennedy passed away November 1, 2007. She was born Ruth Harriet Wingfield on November 15, 1908 in Camp Verde, Arizona Territory to David Wingfield and Jennie Munds, both of pioneer Arizona ranching families. As a young girl she spent long days on horseback with her father and helped trail their cattle to range on the Mogollon Rim where the family camped out all summer, returning to the Verde Valley in the fall. With her parents encouragement, she developed a love of English literature and music which would be with her all of her life. She played piano when silent movies were shown in the small community. Following in the footsteps of her mother, she attended Arizona State Teachers College in Tempe then went on to graduate from the University of Arizona in 1930. She taught high school briefly in Snowflake leaving to marry Clarence E. "Hy" Kennedy in 1931. They lived in Prescott where Ruth served as Deputy County School Superintendent. As the depression deepened, the couple moved to Phoenix where they got into the cattle business and started a family. In the late forties they acquired the Lost Eden Ranch near Clint's Well atop the Mogollon Rim where she would spend her summers for the next fifty years. The couple wintered in Phoenix where she taught for several years at Westwood School. Ruth fostered learning and personal responsibility. She patiently and generously helped and encouraged her children, grandchildren and countless young relatives, children of friends, friends of children and ranch hands who were fortunate enough to spend time - days, weeks or years with Ruth and Hy. Whoever appeared at her door, expected or unexpected, was fed and given a bed for the night if needed. She was active in the Roosevelt Women's Club, Laveen Cowbells, Camelback Cowbells, Tall Pines Farm Bureau, Phoenix Republican Women's Club, The Wingfield Society and First Families of Arizona. She is survived by daughters, Joanne Wochner of Phoenix, Mary Pyles of San Diego, son, David of Phoenix, eight grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and her brother, Kenneth Wingfield of Clarkdale. A memorial service is scheduled for December 2nd at 1:30 P.M., Central United Methodist Church, 1875 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix. The family requests donations in lieu of flowers to: Arizona Cattle Industry Research and Education Foundation, 1401 N. 24th St., #4, Phoenix, Ariz., 85008 or Hospice of the Valley, ATTN: Donation Department, 1501 E. Flower St., Phoenix, Ariz., 85014 |
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