Ruth Catherine (Sheets) Strait (1902 - 1998)

Born 3 Jan 1902 in Westerville, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Alva Samuel Strait — married 13 Apr 1921 in Franklin, Ohio, United States

Died 30 Jan 1998 at age 96 in Polk, Florida, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Ron Norman [send private message] and William Strait [send private message]

Biography

From Bill Strait: "My mother, Ruth Sheets Strait, likely outlived all her ancestors. My mother celebrated her 96th birthday January 3, 1998, then died on the 30th of the same month, outliving her mother (92), her grandmother (almost 94), and her Uncle Jack (94+). She and I talked about her living longer than these folks, including her ancient Uncle Jack, when she reached 95. Then she lived still another year. I think that is remarkable."

"Mother kept a little brown book listing all the places and addresses where she and Dad lived in their 36 years of married life. How many times did they move in those 36 years? Thirty-six times!

"After the war [Dad] . . . lived in a boarding house in the north end of Columbus. The daughter of the people who ran the boarding house introduced my Dad to my Mother at her Sunday School New Years Eve party.

"Al was scoutmaster of Troop 79 in the west end, and Ruth was Girl Scout Captain of Troop 29. She continued correspondence with most of the girls and some of the boy scouts until she died. They were a huge part of her life."

From Ruth Strait: "I remember Dale [her brother] putting a blanket out in the yard and sitting me on it. There would soon be several of his boy friends sitting there too. He took me for a ride in a stroller-type conveyance one day and came to a place where they were moving a house, so he had to see that. He had a baby bottle of milk for me, and fed me occasionally so I was happy. It took so lng that we forgot time. When Dad came home from work, he called the police and the search began. Dale and I were fine, however, enjoying the house moving (or he was) and were shocked when a policeman insisted on escorting us home!

"Across the street [on East Livingston Street] and down a few houses lived a boy about Dale's age that Dale didn't like, since he was 'stuck-up', as Dale said. He became a race car driver and aviator gaining fame in the First World War. You know him: Eddie Rickenbacker.

"From there we moved back east to 235 Lexington Avenue. That is where Edna was married in our living room. It is also where Bill Clark courted her and ran me out of the room a few times, and even whacked me in the head with a pencil.

"Also that is where Mother took in this old lady who was partially paralyzed. She was 'down and out', but when she passed our house she saw our little yellow dog laying on the wide window sill. The lady came to the door and told Mama that if she was kind enough to let a dog lay in the window, she should let an old woman rent a room. And in she came! Her name was Mary Thurman Holiday. Her father had been Senator Thurman. . . I guess you might say I committed my worst crime there. She had money and kept it under the pillow. I wanted Mother to have a happy birthday, so I stole a $1 bill from under the pillow, bought cards and stamps, and addressed all of them to Mother, writing various messages on each. Boy! Did I get a whipping -- and in Mrs. Holiday's room. . . I was about 7 or 8 then, for we moved to 543 W. 5th Avenue from there, and took Mrs. Holiday with us.

"There was also a little black girl about 6 or 7 who lived close by. She had lots of toys, and I used to love going there to play with her. I asked Papa to buy me some toys like hers, but he said he didn't need to since I could play with hers. He certainly had no money for toys, since he went bankrupt in the grocery business. . . He used to get hold of me and look at my face and hands closely when I had been in the little black girl's house, to see if any of the black had rubbed off on me!"

Sources

• Personal recollections of Bill Strait, 3 Aug 2003.
• Personal recollection of Ruth Strait, Jan 1993.

1910 Federal Census (Columbus Ward 5, Franklin, Ohio, United States):

Household Gender Age Birthplace

Head E F Sheets M 48 West Virginia

Wife Kate Sheets F 48 West Virginia

Daughter Edna Sheets F 24 West Virginia

Son H D Sheets M 18 West Virginia

Daughter Ruth Sheets F 8 Ohio^[1]

1920 Federal Census (Columbus Ward 15, Franklin, Ohio, United States):

Household Gender Age Birthplace

Head Elmer F Sheets M 58 West Virginia

Wife Kate Sheets F 57 West Virginia

Son Henry D Sheets M 27 West Virginia

Daughter Ruth Sheets F 17 Ohio^[2]

Ruth C. Sheets, "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994" Name: Alva S. Strait Titles and Terms: Event Type: Marriage Event Date: 13 Apr 1921 Event Place: Franklin, Ohio, United States Age: 24 Birth Date: Birth Year (Estimated): 1897 Birthplace: Franklin Co., O. Father's Name: David Strait Father's Titles and Terms: Mother's Name: Flora Obetz Mother's Titles and Terms: Spouse's Name: Ruth C. Sheets Spouse's Titles and Terms: Spouse's Age: 19 Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): 1902 Spouse's Birthplace: Westerville, O. Spouse's Father's Name: Elmer F. Sheets Spouse's Father's Titles and Terms: Spouse's Mother's Name: Kate Cochran Spouse's Mother's Titles and Terms: Reference ID: p 391 cn 57785 GS Film Number: 1854974 Digital Folder Number: 004017586 Image Number: 00256^[3]

1930 Federal Census (Columbus, Franklin, Ohio, United States):

Household Gender Age Birthplace

Wife Ruth C Strait F 27 Ohio

Son Robert A Strait M 8 Ohio

Son Wm L Strait M 4 Ohio^[4]

Ruth C Strait, "Florida, Death Index, 1877-1998" Name: Ruth C Strait Name Prefix: Name Suffix: Event Type: Death Event Date: 30 Jan 1998 Event Place: Polk, Florida, United States Gender: Unknown Age: 96 Race: White Birth Year (Estimated): Affiliate File Name: Fdi19.txt Affiliate Line Number: 127576 Affiliate CD Number: FDI19 Certificate Number: 13095^[5]

Ruth was born in 1902. Ruth Sheets ... She passed away in 1998. ^[6]

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Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MLZY-B3M : accessed 29 Apr 2014), E F Sheets, Columbus Ward 5, Franklin, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 88, sheet 8B, family 165, NARA microfilm publication T624, FHL microfilm 1375194.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MDTC-JSS : accessed 29 Apr 2014), Elmer F Sheets, Columbus Ward 15, Franklin, Ohio, United States; citing sheet 1B, family 26, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1821383.
3. ↑ "Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X835-ZLD : accessed 29 Apr 2014), Alva S. Strait and Ruth C. Sheets, 13 Apr 1921; citing Franklin, Ohio, United States, reference p 391 cn 57785; FHL microfilm 1854974.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X47S-LCH : accessed 29 Apr 2014), Ruth C Strait, Columbus, Franklin, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 0100, sheet 3B, family 62, NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1798.
5. ↑ "Florida, Death Index, 1877-1998," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VVZQ-DQ2 : accessed 29 Apr 2014), Ruth C Strait, 30 Jan 1998; from "Florida Death Index, 1877-1998," index, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : 2004); citing vol. , certificate number 13095, Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, Jacksonville.
6. ↑ First-hand information as remembered by William Strait, Friday, March 20, 2015. Replace this citation if there is another source.

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