Ruth Emily (Aspelin) Reid, 96, formerly of Dwight, died Tuesday, September 28, 2010, at Manhattan's Mercy Regional Health Center. She was born on December 2, 1913, in Dwight, to Albert and Dagny Elizabeth Nicholson (Nikolajsen) Aspelin. Her father was of Swedish descent, and her mother was a first-generation Danish emigrant. She and her family had come to America when she was four-years-old. The Aspelins had nine children, and Ruth was their firstborn.
At the age of nine, Ruth began to sew. It was both a learned and an inherited skill, and it eventually became a vocation, an avocation, and a lifelong-pleasure. Her maternal great-grandmother, Marie Jessen, had been a dressmaker in Denmark, and her maternal grandmother, Thora Elizabeth Jessen Nikolajsen, (1851-1931), had been a seamstress for the Danish royal family during the reign of King Christian IX.
In 1890, Thora, her husband, Jens Peter Nikolajsen, and their seven children including Ruth's mother, Dagny, immigrated to American and then anglicized their surname to "Nicholson." They eventually settled in Geary County and began to farm.
Shortly after Ruth's 1933 graduation from Dwight Rural High School, she started doing professional dressmaking, alterations, and general sewing. Unfortunately, since dressmaking was a profession with a variable demand-cycle, Ruth soon sought and found steadier employment as a clerk in Dwight's Johnson grocery store. On March 11, 1948, she and her brother, James, formed a partnership and bought the Johnson grocery. They renamed it "Aspelin's IGA." In 1958, Ruth sold her share of the business to James and his wife, Lorraine, and then resumed her former profession of dressmaking. She did that full-time until 1993.
On October 21, 1956, Ruth married Clayton "Jerry" Reid, who was the son of John and Stella Goss Reid, at the Dwight Methodist Church. Clayton was employed as a boiler technician at Fort Riley's Irwin Army Hospital until his retirement in the late 1970s. He died on August 4, 1998. The couple had no children.
About 1969, Ruth began to make quilts, which was an avocation that she had started while she was a youngster. The hobby was done mostly with Dwight Presbyterian Ladies, and the proceeds from the finished items' sales were used to fund the church's operations. Usually, she would design and assemble the quilt-tops, and then, along with her mother, assist the church group with the quilting. Eventually, Ruth produced well over 100 full-size quilts, and nearly twice as many baby quilts.
Ruth was also active in many Dwight's social groups. She was a charter member of both Dwight's American Legion Auxiliary and its Delta Sigma Delta Club. She also helped lead Dwight's 4H Club and Assisted with its Girl Scout chapter. In addition, she was a member of Dwight's Presbyterian Church, and had served as its treasurer for over twenty-five years. In 1985--through the sponsorship of the Philomathian Club of Council Grove, Dwight's Presbyterian Ladies, The Marion Hill Lutheran Church, and Dwight's Delta Sigma Delta and Research Club-–she was selected as the "Morris County Women of the Year." The nomination's justification section had termed her deserving of the award because she was a willing "worker who never says 'no' when asked to do either a community or family service."
In addition to her husband, Ruth was preceded in death by her parents; five sisters, Lola Aspelin, Esther Hogle, Helen Hill, Norma Wendt, and Georgia Kesler; brother, James Aspelin; three nieces, Michelle Wendt, Beverly Hill Balderson and Ruth Irene Kesler Howells. She is survived by a sister Rosalie Myrtle, of Wichita, a brother Edward Aspelin, of Dwight and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews and several great-great nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, October 5, 2010, at Dwight Presbyterian Church. Interment will follow at Dwight Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Dwight Presbyterian Church and may be sent in care of Penwell Gabel Flint Hills Chapel, P.O. Box 273, Council Grove, KS 66846.
*Source: Council Grove (Kansas) Republican,
Sept 2010.
*Obituary Written by David Aspelin
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*************************
Please respect the copyright laws on my family photo's.
You need my permission to use my photo's.
*************************
*************************
At the age of nine, Ruth began to sew. It was both a learned and an inherited skill, and it eventually became a vocation, an avocation, and a lifelong-pleasure. Her maternal great-grandmother, Marie Jessen, had been a dressmaker in Denmark, and her maternal grandmother, Thora Elizabeth Jessen Nikolajsen, (1851-1931), had been a seamstress for the Danish royal family during the reign of King Christian IX.
In 1890, Thora, her husband, Jens Peter Nikolajsen, and their seven children including Ruth's mother, Dagny, immigrated to American and then anglicized their surname to "Nicholson." They eventually settled in Geary County and began to farm.
Shortly after Ruth's 1933 graduation from Dwight Rural High School, she started doing professional dressmaking, alterations, and general sewing. Unfortunately, since dressmaking was a profession with a variable demand-cycle, Ruth soon sought and found steadier employment as a clerk in Dwight's Johnson grocery store. On March 11, 1948, she and her brother, James, formed a partnership and bought the Johnson grocery. They renamed it "Aspelin's IGA." In 1958, Ruth sold her share of the business to James and his wife, Lorraine, and then resumed her former profession of dressmaking. She did that full-time until 1993.
On October 21, 1956, Ruth married Clayton "Jerry" Reid, who was the son of John and Stella Goss Reid, at the Dwight Methodist Church. Clayton was employed as a boiler technician at Fort Riley's Irwin Army Hospital until his retirement in the late 1970s. He died on August 4, 1998. The couple had no children.
About 1969, Ruth began to make quilts, which was an avocation that she had started while she was a youngster. The hobby was done mostly with Dwight Presbyterian Ladies, and the proceeds from the finished items' sales were used to fund the church's operations. Usually, she would design and assemble the quilt-tops, and then, along with her mother, assist the church group with the quilting. Eventually, Ruth produced well over 100 full-size quilts, and nearly twice as many baby quilts.
Ruth was also active in many Dwight's social groups. She was a charter member of both Dwight's American Legion Auxiliary and its Delta Sigma Delta Club. She also helped lead Dwight's 4H Club and Assisted with its Girl Scout chapter. In addition, she was a member of Dwight's Presbyterian Church, and had served as its treasurer for over twenty-five years. In 1985--through the sponsorship of the Philomathian Club of Council Grove, Dwight's Presbyterian Ladies, The Marion Hill Lutheran Church, and Dwight's Delta Sigma Delta and Research Club-–she was selected as the "Morris County Women of the Year." The nomination's justification section had termed her deserving of the award because she was a willing "worker who never says 'no' when asked to do either a community or family service."
In addition to her husband, Ruth was preceded in death by her parents; five sisters, Lola Aspelin, Esther Hogle, Helen Hill, Norma Wendt, and Georgia Kesler; brother, James Aspelin; three nieces, Michelle Wendt, Beverly Hill Balderson and Ruth Irene Kesler Howells. She is survived by a sister Rosalie Myrtle, of Wichita, a brother Edward Aspelin, of Dwight and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews and several great-great nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, October 5, 2010, at Dwight Presbyterian Church. Interment will follow at Dwight Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Dwight Presbyterian Church and may be sent in care of Penwell Gabel Flint Hills Chapel, P.O. Box 273, Council Grove, KS 66846.
*Source: Council Grove (Kansas) Republican,
Sept 2010.
*Obituary Written by David Aspelin
*************************
*************************
Please respect the copyright laws on my family photo's.
You need my permission to use my photo's.
*************************
*************************
Ruth Emily (Aspelin) Reid, 96, formerly of Dwight, died Tuesday, September 28, 2010, at Manhattan's Mercy Regional Health Center. She was born on December 2, 1913, in Dwight, to Albert and Dagny Elizabeth Nicholson (Nikolajsen) Aspelin. Her father was of Swedish descent, and her mother was a first-generation Danish emigrant. She and her family had come to America when she was four-years-old. The Aspelins had nine children, and Ruth was their firstborn.
At the age of nine, Ruth began to sew. It was both a learned and an inherited skill, and it eventually became a vocation, an avocation, and a lifelong-pleasure. Her maternal great-grandmother, Marie Jessen, had been a dressmaker in Denmark, and her maternal grandmother, Thora Elizabeth Jessen Nikolajsen, (1851-1931), had been a seamstress for the Danish royal family during the reign of King Christian IX.
In 1890, Thora, her husband, Jens Peter Nikolajsen, and their seven children including Ruth's mother, Dagny, immigrated to American and then anglicized their surname to "Nicholson." They eventually settled in Geary County and began to farm.
Shortly after Ruth's 1933 graduation from Dwight Rural High School, she started doing professional dressmaking, alterations, and general sewing. Unfortunately, since dressmaking was a profession with a variable demand-cycle, Ruth soon sought and found steadier employment as a clerk in Dwight's Johnson grocery store. On March 11, 1948, she and her brother, James, formed a partnership and bought the Johnson grocery. They renamed it "Aspelin's IGA." In 1958, Ruth sold her share of the business to James and his wife, Lorraine, and then resumed her former profession of dressmaking. She did that full-time until 1993.
On October 21, 1956, Ruth married Clayton "Jerry" Reid, who was the son of John and Stella Goss Reid, at the Dwight Methodist Church. Clayton was employed as a boiler technician at Fort Riley's Irwin Army Hospital until his retirement in the late 1970s. He died on August 4, 1998. The couple had no children.
About 1969, Ruth began to make quilts, which was an avocation that she had started while she was a youngster. The hobby was done mostly with Dwight Presbyterian Ladies, and the proceeds from the finished items' sales were used to fund the church's operations. Usually, she would design and assemble the quilt-tops, and then, along with her mother, assist the church group with the quilting. Eventually, Ruth produced well over 100 full-size quilts, and nearly twice as many baby quilts.
Ruth was also active in many Dwight's social groups. She was a charter member of both Dwight's American Legion Auxiliary and its Delta Sigma Delta Club. She also helped lead Dwight's 4H Club and Assisted with its Girl Scout chapter. In addition, she was a member of Dwight's Presbyterian Church, and had served as its treasurer for over twenty-five years. In 1985--through the sponsorship of the Philomathian Club of Council Grove, Dwight's Presbyterian Ladies, The Marion Hill Lutheran Church, and Dwight's Delta Sigma Delta and Research Club-–she was selected as the "Morris County Women of the Year." The nomination's justification section had termed her deserving of the award because she was a willing "worker who never says 'no' when asked to do either a community or family service."
In addition to her husband, Ruth was preceded in death by her parents; five sisters, Lola Aspelin, Esther Hogle, Helen Hill, Norma Wendt, and Georgia Kesler; brother, James Aspelin; three nieces, Michelle Wendt, Beverly Hill Balderson and Ruth Irene Kesler Howells. She is survived by a sister Rosalie Myrtle, of Wichita, a brother Edward Aspelin, of Dwight and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews and several great-great nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, October 5, 2010, at Dwight Presbyterian Church. Interment will follow at Dwight Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Dwight Presbyterian Church and may be sent in care of Penwell Gabel Flint Hills Chapel, P.O. Box 273, Council Grove, KS 66846.
*Source: Council Grove (Kansas) Republican,
Sept 2010.
*Obituary Written by David Aspelin
*************************
*************************
Please respect the copyright laws on my family photo's.
You need my permission to use my photo's.
*************************
*************************
At the age of nine, Ruth began to sew. It was both a learned and an inherited skill, and it eventually became a vocation, an avocation, and a lifelong-pleasure. Her maternal great-grandmother, Marie Jessen, had been a dressmaker in Denmark, and her maternal grandmother, Thora Elizabeth Jessen Nikolajsen, (1851-1931), had been a seamstress for the Danish royal family during the reign of King Christian IX.
In 1890, Thora, her husband, Jens Peter Nikolajsen, and their seven children including Ruth's mother, Dagny, immigrated to American and then anglicized their surname to "Nicholson." They eventually settled in Geary County and began to farm.
Shortly after Ruth's 1933 graduation from Dwight Rural High School, she started doing professional dressmaking, alterations, and general sewing. Unfortunately, since dressmaking was a profession with a variable demand-cycle, Ruth soon sought and found steadier employment as a clerk in Dwight's Johnson grocery store. On March 11, 1948, she and her brother, James, formed a partnership and bought the Johnson grocery. They renamed it "Aspelin's IGA." In 1958, Ruth sold her share of the business to James and his wife, Lorraine, and then resumed her former profession of dressmaking. She did that full-time until 1993.
On October 21, 1956, Ruth married Clayton "Jerry" Reid, who was the son of John and Stella Goss Reid, at the Dwight Methodist Church. Clayton was employed as a boiler technician at Fort Riley's Irwin Army Hospital until his retirement in the late 1970s. He died on August 4, 1998. The couple had no children.
About 1969, Ruth began to make quilts, which was an avocation that she had started while she was a youngster. The hobby was done mostly with Dwight Presbyterian Ladies, and the proceeds from the finished items' sales were used to fund the church's operations. Usually, she would design and assemble the quilt-tops, and then, along with her mother, assist the church group with the quilting. Eventually, Ruth produced well over 100 full-size quilts, and nearly twice as many baby quilts.
Ruth was also active in many Dwight's social groups. She was a charter member of both Dwight's American Legion Auxiliary and its Delta Sigma Delta Club. She also helped lead Dwight's 4H Club and Assisted with its Girl Scout chapter. In addition, she was a member of Dwight's Presbyterian Church, and had served as its treasurer for over twenty-five years. In 1985--through the sponsorship of the Philomathian Club of Council Grove, Dwight's Presbyterian Ladies, The Marion Hill Lutheran Church, and Dwight's Delta Sigma Delta and Research Club-–she was selected as the "Morris County Women of the Year." The nomination's justification section had termed her deserving of the award because she was a willing "worker who never says 'no' when asked to do either a community or family service."
In addition to her husband, Ruth was preceded in death by her parents; five sisters, Lola Aspelin, Esther Hogle, Helen Hill, Norma Wendt, and Georgia Kesler; brother, James Aspelin; three nieces, Michelle Wendt, Beverly Hill Balderson and Ruth Irene Kesler Howells. She is survived by a sister Rosalie Myrtle, of Wichita, a brother Edward Aspelin, of Dwight and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews and several great-great nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, October 5, 2010, at Dwight Presbyterian Church. Interment will follow at Dwight Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Dwight Presbyterian Church and may be sent in care of Penwell Gabel Flint Hills Chapel, P.O. Box 273, Council Grove, KS 66846.
*Source: Council Grove (Kansas) Republican,
Sept 2010.
*Obituary Written by David Aspelin
*************************
*************************
Please respect the copyright laws on my family photo's.
You need my permission to use my photo's.
*************************
*************************
Inscription
Married Oct 21, 1956
Family Members
Siblings
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Helen Harriet Aspelin Hill
1915–1999
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Esther Phoebe Aspelin Hogle
1916–1988
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Norma Alberta Aspelin Wendt
1918–2005
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Edward Donald "Penny" Aspelin
1920–2013
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James Nels "Jim" Aspelin
1922–2000
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Georgia Thora Aspelin Kesler
1924–2010
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Lola Elizabeth Aspelin
1927–1985
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Rosalie Louise "Rosie" Aspelin Myrtle
1932–2021
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