Person:Kathryn Kennedy (1)

Ruth was the oldest child of Kathleen and Marsh Kennedy. She was taught at home on the family farm in Carrollton, Texas by her mother until the family moved to Ft. Worth when she was 9 yrs. old. She was the proverbial big sister, taking care of her younger siblings and telling them what to do . She fell in love with her future husband, Wade Marrs, when she was still in high school. His family lived across the street when the Kennedy family moved into the first home of their own on May St. in Ft. Worth. Ruth went on to finish high school and went to college at TWC (Texas Womens College) on a scholarship arranged by the minister of her church, Rev. S. T. McKinney. Her brother James worked to help pay her college expenses. She was an accomplished artist, painting baby quilts and handkerchiefs

as was the custom when she was younger. She wrote poems as well. She had a couple of strange habits. One was that as she read or studied she pulled out strands of her hair and would end up with a pile near her chair. Another was that when she wrote something and wasn't satisfied with the way it sounded she would crumple up the paper and chew it into a ball. She had a great sense of humor and could make the funniest faces and tell the greatest stories. She taught school in Kennedale after getting her degree and married Wade during the last year that she taught. At that time teachers were not supposed to be married so they kept it a secret. She had only the one son, Wayne. They lived on James Ave. in Ft.Worth and then bought a home on Foard St. next door to her husband's partner in the butcher shop, Walter Jetton. Eventually Wade had to move to a dry climate for his health so they

moved to Parker, Arizona and then to Riverside, California. When they were divorced, she moved back to stay with her mother for a while, later moving back to California and getting her teachers certificate there. She and Wade were re-married about the time that Wayne started college, but he had a stroke within a week of their re-marriage and died . When her youngest sister, Charlotte died she came back to Ft. Worth to take care of the children, but moved with them back to Olympia, WA along her widowed, aging mother, Kathleen. The teacher's retirement package in Washington was much better than Texas and her son Wayne was there. He was a very successful geologist. She sent both girls to college and took them on trips to South America to visit Wayne when he worked down there. They both married and had families of their own as did her son Wayne. She had been retired about 2 years when she was stricken with cancer of the spine and after a long illness died on

Christmas Day..