COOK, Ruth

COOK, Ruth

It is with sadness that I sit down to write the obituary for my best friend Ruth, who passed away on the 31st of January in Strathmore, AB. Ruth was born on December 7th, 1942 in Manitou, Manitoba. She was the only girl in a family of five born to her parents, Gordon and Ella Sprung.
She grew up on a farm, a sixth generation farm now owned by her nephew. As a child, she walked to a one room country school and later boarded out for high school. In 1961, she went into nurses training and later to university to earn her Bachelor of Nursing Degree. She was a nursing instructor at Grace Hospital School of Nursing in 1968 when she met Dwight. They were married on August 30th, 1969. Together with his sister, Delight, and her husband, Dave Knapp, they ranched at Peonan Point and Steep Rock. It was there that their two daughters, Lynette and Janice were born. Ruth loved the ranching way of life. She wasn’t much good with a lasso or a branding iron but if she had a broom or frying pan, she was hard to beat. Her cinnamon buns were world famous. Before we had Hydro on the ranch, there were three outhouses that Ruth wanted to keep clean. We called her the “Outhouse Supervisor”. Ruth loved all kinds of crafts and flowers and loved to paint. Her three grandgirls were the lights of her life. Eventually the ranch was sold. In spring of 2015, Ruth and Dwight moved to Strathmore where they enjoyed four years of doing something different. Ruth accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Saviour when she was eight years old and found great joy in sharing his love with those around her. Ruth died as she had lived – full of faith, hope and peace. We are so thankful that because of her faith, she is in the presence of Jesus. Ruth was predeceased by her parents Gordon and Ella, her brother Harold, and her sister-in-law Elaine. Ruth is survived by her husband, Dwight, the love of her life for the past forty nine and a half years. Also her two daughters, Lynette (Kevin) and Janice (Jay), and her three granddaughters, Shannon, Kennedy, and Piper, as well as her three brothers, Allan, Maurice, and Ross. “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”. 1 Corinthians 13:12-13.