Ruth Rachel Roberts died on August 16, 2017, at the age of 96. She would have been 103 this year. The above photo was taken at the estate sale held at her home on 4235 Ashland Drive. We wish we'd met Ruth* and interviewed her for GDP; she lead such a long and interesting life. We are grateful for our friend, local singer/performer Jessica Mashburn, for urging us to attend the estate sale. Jessica was right. The house and its contents are quite a time capsule and window into Ruth's life that was as full as her house. Ruth graduated from Greensboro Senior High School (Grimsley) in 1938 and went on to work for and retire from the United States Internal Revenue Service. One of eight children, in her family, she was the last living member of her generation. The contents reflected a century's worth of household items and collections.
We photographed the wooden skate in the living room as Ruth was a competitive roller skater, traveling for competitions. She also officiated for competitions. Ruth was a master seamstress, making her costumes as well as clothing for daily wear. She was also an avid doll collector and was a member of Piedmont Doll Club. We're estimating there were still 300 dolls for sale in the last hours of the last day of the estate sale. In addition to sewing, Ruth was a talented crafter. Boxes and boxes of crafting supplies and yards and yards of fabric were available at the sale. Among other crafts, Ruth was known for making Chrismon ornaments-- ornaments with Christian symbols on them to remind people that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. ** Ruth was a lifelong member of Presbyterian Church of the Covenant and taught Sunday school there. Signs of her spirituality were seen everywhere in the house, from her craft projects to her book collection.
The four bedroom 2.5 bathroom house was built in 1920, the year before Ruth was born. Wendover Avenue, built in the 1930s, ten years after the construction of the house, is literally in the backyard of this 1/3 acre property. We're betting some of their property was taken to construct the road which grew and widened over Ruth's life. Somehow, when walking through the tan stucco house with minimal, if any, remodeling over the years, you imagine women in cotton dresses cooking and sewing; and men sitting, reading the paper, and smoking a pipe. The sights and sounds of Wendover are hardly noticeable. Here's to a life well lived.
* as she is referred to in her obituary, the source of information shared in this post.
** The word is a combination of the words Christmas and monogram. Frances Kipps Spencer of Ascension Lutheran Church in Danville, Virginia, created the first Chrismon tree in 1957.
Comments