Hello Readers,

Before jumping in to this month’s story of an amazing woman, let’s remember last month’s blog about August Turner – a man who told his story about being homeless. So many of you, Readers, sent your praises and kind comments about August. You were impressed with all that he has accomplished. You were so proud of him for the way he turned his life around. 

Debe from Pennsylvania said, “Wow… that is an amazing story!!  He sounds like a very special person.  What a wonderful inspiration he is! I have to say that he sure doesn’t look his age!” That sentiment was shared over and over many times by quite of few of you. Readers, what is one of the most difficult changes you had to make in your life?

Also, in preparation for next month’s blog, I will be writing about some people I met at my favorite place in Longmont where I go to enjoy a delicious lunch. I will give you a hint – “bird’s eye view”. Any guesses, Readers?

 

Now, let me tell you this month’s story by starting with an example from my Grandma Mable, who was a quilter. Grandma took bits and pieces of material and sewed them into what became beautiful homemade quilts. Her tender wrinkled hands wove the thread in and out, either by hand or with her foot-pump Singer sewing machine. I often sat beside her and loved her as I watched her labor to piece those colorful scraps into her works of art. As I got older, I often thought about her quilts. They became a simile for life. These scraps placed next to each other formed a pattern of color and beauty; together, it became a useful and much-needed covering. Each piece, stitched with love, created a homemade masterpiece that stood the test of time.

 

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This month, you are going to hear of a woman whose life reminded me of one of those patchwork quilts. Born during the depression, this strong woman used what she had at hand – her brain, her voice and her hands – to build a life that served her country, her family and her community. She turned 88 this year, and in the years before, Ruby Kulpa’s life took many twists and turns. She had to bury two of her five children. She lost two husbands; her first husband died in a motorcycle accident, and her second husband died from a massive heart attack. She was a three-time survivor of stage four lung cancer…and this year, she had been fighting it again. She had lived in Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine, Tennessee and several times back in Colorado. She had a variety of jobs- more than you could count twice with your fingers and toes; each one needed to help support her family. Ruby was a gentle soft-spoken woman, but as her story unfolds, you’ll hear of a strong woman with an innate understanding of construction and electronics, a survivor and a woman who never stopped finding ways to give to her community – no matter where her address was at the time. I’m going to tell her story in bits and pieces – much like a patchwork quilt.

 

Born in 1930, Ruby spent her childhood in Vermont on a large farm five miles from the nearest town. She attended a one-room schoolhouse that housed the first through 8th grades. Ruby had the same teacher for the first eight years of her education. In those years, she walked to school one mile each way no matter what the weather. 

Starting in 1929, our country suffered an economical decline known as the Great Depression. Many people lost all their finances; crop prices fell more than 60 percent. People died for lack.   Ruby’s family was one of the fortunate ones in those hard times because they had meat and vegetables from the farm. “We always had food to eat,” she recalled. 

By the 40s, our country gained a stronger economy. World War II created jobs and people found a way to survive again. Still, rations were placed on families – food, gas, sugar and some clothing – in an effort to support the war. Ruby remembered her mother teaching her to make clothing from flour bags and learning to knit. However, Ruby’s family did not have to worry about the sugar rations because her family hung 200 buckets a year to get sap from their trees to make maple syrup. “Everyone worked together. I had a wonderful childhood,” Ruby told me. 

Ruby’s family sacrificed in a unique way to help our government during those war years. She showed me an identification card for the Ground Observer Corps assigned to her by the United States Army. As volunteers, Ruby and her family were trained to watch the skies and to listen. Before we had modern technology, families like Ruby’s were able to identify and let the Army know of enemy planes that flew over our country’s eastern coastline. 

Ruby had a childhood dream of wanting to be a nurse. Living in the country, she did not have access to classes, and because of the cost of higher education, Ruby never held the title “nurse”. However, she was able to reach her dreams of serving in other ways. The family ran a phone switchboard operation in their home for 22 years before it was bought by the larger telephone company in the area. Ruby’s first opportunity to serve others was when her mother developed an illness in which she needed lots of rest. “I came home early from school and put her to bed,” Ruby recalled. After getting her mom settled, Ruby ran the switchboard. “In a way, I was able to do nursing,” she said of taking care of her mother in those years.

Ruby worked full time since the age of 12 and continued full time work until she was in her 70s. More than fifteen of Ruby’s jobs were in healthcare – where she would go in someone’s home to help them with an illness. One such example was a nun who was bitterly wounded and paralyzed when a local church was vandalized. Ruby became one of her caretakers. 

Ruby not only helped others but she became her own healthcare advocate. Each time cancer wracked her body, Ruby knew early on that something was wrong. As doctors searched, it was often difficult to find the cause of her symptoms. At one point, Ruby told a doctor, “You are going to put me in the hospital and we are going to search my body until we find out what is wrong. I’m not leaving until I have the answers.” The doctor did so, and cancer was found. Four times physicians identified cancer in Ruby’s body – 2004, 2016, 2018 and most recently, in 2019. Each episode meant chemotherapy. Through the first three times, she had lost over 100 pounds of bodyweight. Each time, after chemo, doctors pronounced a “clear” diagnosis – until this last time. “Speak up when you are not happy with your healthcare,” she said. The doctors had told her that her stage four lung cancer would return; she knew it was inevitable. In the last years, her tall 5’9” frame was supported by a cane. Two months ago, Ruby told me, in her soft voice, “To be the age that I am and do what I do; I’m still alive to help others; people marvel,” she said. She had laughed when I asked her what kept her going, “I’m a tough damn Yankee,” she had responded. 

Ruby had an innate understanding of mechanics. As a young person, Ruby joined 4H – a youth development program. Growing up around farming and construction, putting things together was second nature to her. As illustration, Ruby once worked where she helped build helicopters. The first day on the job, Ruby arrived with her own tool box and tools. This was unheard of by anyone working in the plant but particularly a woman. Her boss was impressed. Later, when he realized that Ruby not only had tools but knew how to use them, she was pulled aside for a lot of specialty jobs that other workers could not understand or complete. 

Another boss impressed by Ruby, was during the years she worked in an explosive company. When others went out to the “smoke house” to smoke their cigarettes during their breaks, Ruby stayed at her place in the factory to drink her coffee. When confronted by the boss as to why she was sitting there, she responded with “would you rather I waste more time walking to the smoke house when I don’t smoke or use my time to sit here and drink my coffee.” This boss too liked her immediately and pulled her to run a specialty machine that wove five strands of explosive into one large lacing. He even told her, “There are going to be times this job gets boring sitting here watching this machine.” He encouraged her to knit to help pass the time. Though Ruby had been a knitter for years, it was during that job that she created a handmade sweater. It was her first of over 300 sweaters created in her lifetime. All but a few, she gave to others.

Ruby first came to Colorado in 1967 because of her first husband’s work. Ken Pratt, a community leader, philanthropist and community developer in Longmont’s history, knew Ruby and her husband. He helped them get settled in their first home in Longmont. Talking about that time, Ruby said, “We saw the house as sunset was coming over the mountains. We fell in love with it.” Ruby moved often, depending on where her husbands’ careers took them; three times she came back to Colorado and lived her remaining years as a Longmont resident.

Ruby and her second husband shared an interesting job as truck drivers. The two of them were partners and traveled cross-country hauling dry freight such as coffee and dog food – even antique vinyl records.  Ruby told me they were known as Ma and Pa all over the country. It was during one of those runs, when they stopped for breakfast, that her husband died in his truck as his heart stopped. 

She was the grandmother to five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She had attended a knitting group, a quilting group and often played the card game Hand and Foot. She was a member of the Daughters of the Revolution (DAR) and sometimes attended the local chapter meetings.  “These are my sanity; all the wonderful people I have met,” she said. I asked “What is the most important thing in your life?” Ruby answered, “Trying to help others along the way; the nursing others has been the most rewarding.”

Ruby loved using her skills to help people. She and others from her quilting group had donated over 75 quilts to a school in Ft. Collings that serves impoverished and homeless children. Ruby remembered personally handing a quilt to a little boy. He grabbed it and held it to himself. “I never had anything of my own before,” he told her. She and her knitting group donated over 100 hats to families in need. 

 

Over the years, Ruby made quilts for individuals in military combat. She mailed one of her quilts to a soldier who was wounded in war. Later, she received a note from the gentleman; he told her that his plane had been bombed, and the plane went down. As he healed in hospital care he told Ruby, “that quilt kept me warm. It was all I had.” He wrote Ruby that after he left the hospital, he washed the quilt and sent it back to Germany for another injured soldier to use. 

In the last few months, Ruby had reached a time in her life where she too had needs. She often ate at the Longmont Senior Center. She received her dental care through help with Boulder County services. Her incoming finances and rising rent costs stretched her money beyond the limit of her cost of living. “It hurts to have to get help,” she said. “I can see why people go through depression. I am not, but I understand. I’ve done fundraising my whole life and now to have to ask for help – it hurts,” she sadly told me as she shook her head. 

In that conversation, Ruby explained that she felt she had been sheltered in her early years. “I was naïve and afraid to speak my mind, but life has built strength and determination in me.” She told me that she wanted to be remembered for “helping whenever I could. Don’t give up. Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself.” Ruby said, “I’ve had a tough life, but it has been worth it”. Like my grandmother with her quilt squares, I’ve tried to piece together anecdotes of Ruby’s life. I hope you, too, picture this tall, strong woman with a determined amount of strength and a heart for others. 

In April, Ruby was a having a difficult time with the cancer. We spoke often and she read the first copy of this blog. She was happy that I had told her story. She wanted to tell about her life before she died. Ruby’s stories on this earth ended when she passed away on April 20, 2019. However, for those of us who knew her and loved her, her life will carry on in its strength and encouragement. She had this quiet tender voice, but she was a strong woman – one I admired and was glad to call “my friend”.

 

Until next month, may peace be at your side, 

Debbie Noel

We have several ways to interact with Debbie!

• Email her at DroppingInWithDebbie@gmail.com

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• Send your letters to:

Debbie Noel
C/o Longmont Senior Center
910 Longs Peak Avenue
Longmont, Colorado 80501

 

Longmont Senior Center offers a variety of classes and social events for you to meet new people and use or discover your talents. To see what’s available for the summer you can pick up a GO Catalog in the Senior Center lobby or view the Summer edition online at www.longmontcolorado.gov/senior-services.