Ruth Y. Spivey (maiden name Straughn) Ruth was born June 27, 1924, in Ripley, Oklahoma, as the first-born child of Harold W. Straughn and Lusetta Straughn. After losing his position at the bank in Ripley due to closure during the Great Depression, Harold secured a job in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and moved his family there in 1931. Ruth grew up in Stillwater with many fond memories of life there. She often spoke of camping near the riverbank with her paternal grandfather in his covered wagon. Ruth loved to roller skate and she and her friends would skate to school. Her father built a house a few blocks from the campus of Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater. Ruth's family made an annual summer trip to Sheldon, Iowa, to visit Ruth's maternal grandparents. She would often relate tales of her time in Iowa, on the family farm, and time spent with many cousins at the family cottage on Lake Okaboji (O-ka-bow-gee). During Ruth's time in high school at Stillwater High, two events occured, which impacted the rest of her life. In August of 1941, her younger sister, Mary Lu, passed away. In her senior year of HS, she attended a presentation by Oklahoma A&M on "Engineering as a Career." Ruth began to dream big! After HS graduation in 1942, Ruth enrolled in the School of Engineering at Oklahoma A&M and graduated in 1945 as the first woman to recieve a degree in Electrical Engineering from that school. After obtaining her college degree, Ruth received 3 job offers. She accepted the offer that paid the most ... one dollar per hour from General Electric. The job with GE required Ruth to move to Schenectady, New York. While working for GE in NY, Ruth met another GE electrical engineer who had recently returned from active duty with the U.S. Army in the Pacific Theater of World War II. He was tall, lanky, well-tanned and reminded her of one of her favorite celebrities, Gregory Peck. His name was James "Frank" Spivey from Dallas, Texas. Frank had graduated from Texas A&M in January 1943, went directly into the Army and was quickly shipped to the South Pacific. Ruth and Frank were married Dec. 11, 1946. Together, Ruth and Frank spent their early years in Los Altos, California. Ruth had three children, Patricia, Margaret and Harold. Ruth re-entered the work force when her youngest child, Harold was about a year old. She worked as a professional engineer for many years, with her career culminating in a position with the U.S. Air Force at Randolph Air Force Base in the San Antonio, Texas area. I asked her once ... "Mom, how did you do it all these years as the only woman engineer in your places of work?"She replied ... "I just keep the boss happy ... and now, I'm happy because I AM the boss." Ruth is predeceased by her huband, James Franklin Spivey; her daughter, Patricia G. Spivey; her parents, Harold and Lu Straughn and her sister, Mary Lu Straughn. Ruth is survived by: her daughter, Margaret and her husband R.D. Armstrong; her son, Harold Spivey; grandchildren: Jesse Hackett, Emily Freeman and John Hackett. Great grandchildren: Isaiah Hackett, Savannah Hackett, Sienna Hackett, Asher Freeman and Zoe Freeman. Ruth was always a strong pillar and inspiration to her family and will be sorely missed.