Ruth Juann Hall Wright was born with bright, beautiful, blue eyes on August 11, 1943, in Cushing, Iowa to her father, Melvin and her mother, Dorothea. Ruth’s father was particularly proud of the fact that he personally made up her middle name, Juann, and its unique spelling.

When Ruth was born, she gained an instant best friend in Helen Mabel, her 18-month-old sister. Ruth’s red hair and freckles mirrored those of her big sister, and as they grew, they were occasionally mistaken for twins. Eventually these adorable, curly-haired gingers welcomed a baby brother, Melvin, jr., and over the next decade, he was followed by four more siblings, Carolyn, Marjorie, Loren and Kenneth. The Hall children bloomed while living in the country, where they welcomed pets such as cats, dogs and two ducks named Huey and Luey. At one point, they even had a pet raccoon that served as a “helper” when picking bobby pins from their mother’s hair.

As a young child, Ruth’s life almost met tragic fate, and she was not expected to live. One day a neighbor girl fed Ruth, Helen and Melvin some “magic peanuts”, which in fact were highly poisonous seeds from a Moonseed plant. After several days in the hospital where friends and family held a non-stop prayer vigil, Ruth and her two siblings miraculously awoke from their comas and to this day, there is no medical explanation for their full recoveries.

Growing up, Ruth always had a lot of friends and when she wasn’t doing chores, she enjoyed singing and playing the piano and participating in speech competitions and drama club. On one specific occasion Ruth was the lead in a school play, and she asked her dad if he would come see her in it, to which he jokingly replied, “Yes, as long as it was not during an episode of Bonanza.”

Ruth graduated from Dike High school in 1961 and went on to be the first Hall child to attend college. Desiring a career in the education field, Ruth enrolled in Grandview Junior College in Des Moines, Iowa and used every dime she had ever saved from babysitting to pay for her tuition. With an unfathomable spirit and a profound sense of freedom, Ruth thrived in the collegiate environment. She meticulously focused on her studies, expanded her global perspective, participated in the anti-segregation movement and even found a lifelong best friend in Mrs. Jane Overturf. Ruth enjoyed dormitory life and occasionally engaged in minor shenanigans. She also attended off campus social engagements (keggers) with her friend, eventually being coined “The Pepsi Twins” because in lieu of drinking alcohol, both ladies proudly sipped their soda.

After receiving her associates degree, Ruth needed to earn more money so that she could complete her degree program. She secured a leadership position with the Iowa Heart Association and relocated to Cedar Falls, Iowa, where, having no shortage of suitors, she enjoyed the single life. One summer Ruth and her college friend Suzi treated themselves to a fun-filled, convertible road trip to California. During this vacation Ruth discovered two critical things: One, that she loves to travel and two, you can get sunburned even on a cloudy day. Ruth was a fair-skinned red head who, on that day, delighted in her first time swimming in the ocean. She unabashedly played in the salty waves believing the overcast made her safe. Subsequently, Ruth got the worst sunburn of her life, and this is the reason nobody has ever seen her in the sun without huge hats, umbrellas and tubs of sunscreen. It’s also probably why Ruth’s face, even as she aged, barely had any wrinkles.

On a fateful day in February 1965, a friend introduced Ruth to Darrell Wright, a handsome gentleman, ten years her senior. They were engaged by August and married in December of the same year. Eventually, Ruth and Darrell had a home built on Belle Street in Waterloo, Iowa and there, they raised three children: Sharon, Laura and Darren. During this time and with her loving husband’s full support, Ruth successfully finished her Bachelor of Arts degree, became an elementary teacher specializing in language arts and special education, and eventually earned a master’s degree, proving it’s never too late to accomplish a goal.

Family travel was always a priority for Ruth and Darrell. Packed into a station wagon, they took dozens of summer vacation road trips, spending weeks at a time visiting friends, family, national parks, amusement parks, beaches, tourist traps and any other significant landmark that existed throughout the Southwest and Pacific Northwest areas of the country. During these road trips, Ruth happily performed many key roles including but not limited to: AM radio deejay, Temperature control technician, Rest stop/bodily functions coordinator, Finder of hotels with vacancies and a pool but still within the budget, Official AAA Trip Tik reader for Darrell and, a Referee for her kids sitting in the back seat. While driving in the middle of a desert with no formal amenities for the next 150 miles, Ruth often found herself distributing snacks into paper cups and remembering to assure everyone that she had counted the chips or grapes equally, just in case one kid thought she was playing favorites by giving their sibling an extra Cheeto.

For over six decades, Ruth lived in Iowa and built a life for which she was very proud. She enjoyed teaching first and second graders and was an active volunteer with organizations such as the PTA and the local community theater. She valued time spent with friends and neighbors and enjoyed coordinating gatherings with her extended family. She loved to spoil her nieces and nephews, who knew they could always count on Aunt Ruth and Uncle Darrell. Ruth was also a longtime member of First Lutheran Church, which is where she got married, taught bible stories to three-year olds each week and served as the Sunday school superintendent. This was also where all three of her children were baptized and confirmed and where both of her daughters were wed.

Eventually Ruth and Darrell’s spawns grew up and established their own lives in Minnesota and Colorado. Their love for their kids never waned and slowly percolating in their hearts was the desire to bridge that distance. In 2002, Ruth officially retired from teaching with the Waterloo Community School District and moved to Colorado.

Although Ruth and Darrell were now both retired, they didn’t slow down in Colorado. They quickly cultivated precious relationships with new friends and neighbors. Ruth was a social butterfly and stayed busy with various activities such as crafting, scrapbooking, knitting prayer shawls, book club, water aerobics, Karaoke nights, theme parties, watching Bronco games, church choir, annual birthday lunches with her gal pals and her favorite of all - babysitting grandchildren. Ruth continued to travel too, only now preferring an airplane over a long car ride. Ruth and Darrell took numerous vacations with friends to places such as Branson, Missouri, New England and Hawaii as well as multiple European adventures.

Between 2015 and 2020 Ruth began noticing declines in her husband’s cognitive abilities. By early 2021, Ruth became Darrell’s primary caretaker and faithfully continued to serve him until his passing in 2023. Following her own physical setbacks later that year, Ruth made the difficult decision to move into an assisted living facility. Although initially hesitant to forfeit some of her independence, Ruth quickly adapted. She participated in cooking and craft classes and attended daily movie screenings with newfound friends.

Despite her new challenges and changes, Ruth remained fiercely loyal to the friends whom she had cherished and adored for the past two decades. They supported her throughout illness and multiple cancer journeys and held her hand as she bid adieu to her husband of fifty-six years. They are her tribe and should take comfort in knowing that Ruth now waits peacefully and without pain for the day they all reunite in heaven.

Ruth went to be with Jesus at 10:25 pm on Tuesday, February 24, 2026. In her final days she was surrounded by her children and grandchildren and as she left this world, her last words were, “I love you more.”

Ruth is survived by daughter Sharon, daughter Laura and her husband Seth and son Darren and his wife Erica, and seven grandchildren whom she loved dearly: Audrey, Rachel, Samuel, Alexandra, Liliana, Sydney and Adelyn. She is also survived by one sister, three brothers, ten nieces and nephews and dozens of cousins. She is preceded in death by her husband Darrell, her parents Melvin and Dorothea, sisters Marjorie and Carolyn, nephews Delbert and Kevin, father and mother-in-law George and Lucille, brothers-in-law Vernon and Merritt and sister-in-law Delana.