Ruth L. Bayes | ||
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Ruth Louise Bayes, the daughter of Minnie Marie (Hubbard) and Louis Gustav Lavrenz, was born in Arnolds Park, Iowa on July 28, 1918. Her father died when Ruth was 2 months old and her mother later remarried. This marriage was blessed with daughters Millie and Janice. Ruth graduated from high school in Underwood, Iowa and attended nurse’s training at Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs, Iowa. After a short time of working for the state of Iowa, Ruth met and married Robert Bayes of Malvern, Iowa. The marriage was blessed with a son Dennis and they eventually settled in Storm Lake, Iowa. While living in Storm Lake for 17 years, Ruth worked as a surgical nurse and was an active member of the Lakeside Presbyterian Church. In 1968, Ruth and Bob moved to DeKalb, Illinois where Ruth worked in the Student Health Center at Northern Illinois University, retiring in1976. Ruth and Bob spent the next five years traveling the United States and Canada before settling in Tucson, Arizona. Ruth enjoyed playing golf and was an avid reader. The couple moved back to Iowa in 1988. Bob died in 1997 and two years later, Ruth moved to Arkansas to make her home with son Dennis and his wife Terry. Ruth had been suffering from the effects of macular degeneration for the past 20 years, but she never let it interfere with what she wanted to do in life and never used it as an excuse for anything. She lived independently until the last six weeks of her life. And, by her own standards, Ruth would say that she lived a good life. Ruth died at Garland Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Hot Springs, AR on July 5, 2006 at the age of 87 years, 11 months, and 7 days. In addition to her husband Robert Bayes, Ruth was preceded in death by her parents and sister Millie Stephens. Ruth is survived by her son Dennis Bayes and his wife Terry of Hot Springs Village; a sister Janice Hill of Floyds Knob, Indiana; sister-in-law Gene Bayes of Carlsbad, California; two grandchildren, Chet Bayes of Allen, Texas and John Finken of San Francisco, California; two great-grandchildren, Ashlyn Bayes and Kendall Bayes both of Rockwall, Texas; other relatives and friends. Memorial services for Mrs. Bayes were held at 11:00 A.M. July 8, 2006 at Presbyterian Kirk in the Pines at Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. Graveside services and interment were held at 11:00 A.M. July 10, 2006 in the Malvern Cemetery, Malvern, Iowa. Rev. Michael Harvey of the Carson, Iowa Presbyterian Church officiated and a reception with lunch for the family was held at the Malvern United Methodist Church. Mansfield-Hertz Funeral Home of Malvern, Iowa was in charge of local arrangements. | ||