Ruth Louise (Sanford) Harrison

     Ruth Louise (Sanford) Harrison, 100, (or as Ruth would say "I am 107; 100 plus 7 months), a resident of Cooper City, Florida and formerly of Hill City and Bliss, Idaho, passed away on Saturday, December 28, 2024 in Florida.

     Ruth Harrison said she didn't want a funeral and she didn't want an obituary.  She was 100 and a half when she died on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024 just before noon at Memorial West in Pembroke Pines, Florida.  You'd think someone who lived to 100 and a half would get what she wanted. Well, not exactly.

     She was too fun to just let her fade into the past. We won't let her. Her life on Camas Prairie, Idaho was a combination of Little Women and Annie Oakley. There wasn't anything she couldn't do, from sewing a cheerleading outfit to branding cows. She not only whipped up great meals for annual hay crews, but anyone who ended up at the door at meal time. This included her grandchildren and her endless procession of nephews and nieces who felt the ranch at Hill City which was the place for the most fun.  There wasn’t a problem she couldn’t solve including changing a flat tire in a fancy formal on her way to a Rebekah soiree - she just took off her dress and changed the tire in her undies. She could dress a deer, or choose a chicken from her flock for lunch, always laughing and making jokes.  Going to Gooding was an adventure because she had to stop in every store and share a joke!

     She and the Harrison boys ran cows on Harrison Ranch north of Hill City. She wasn't a cowgirl; she was a cowboy who could stretch up a fence or doctor one of the men who were always getting hurt. Her upbringing in the Sanford family in Fairfield had prepared her to cook, clean, sew, play gin and sing, sing, sing. She sang for weddings, funerals, retirement homes, Rebecca Lodge meetings and once, after a couple of stanzas of “Pine Trees in Heaven”, a man told her she sounded just like a meadowlark. 

    Once she and hubby Zane retired from ranching to their winter home on River Road near Hagerman, she became a sweet little old lady. Ha, not quite.  Her running battle with the rock chucks kept her busy.  When her neighbors saw her gun barrel sticking out the kitchen window, they knew the battle was on.  She had a dead eye and a steady hand and didn't know the meaning of squeamish.

    After more than ninety years in this area of southern Idaho, Ruth touched quite a few lives, and stories about her abound, most of them hilarious. She never met a stranger; she didn't have a mean bone in her body.  With great patience she taught her daughter, grandchildren, nieces and nephews the ways of life.  She had the enormous capacity for endless optimism and love. She made each day a great day!

   She left behind many who adored her including her daughter Peggy and husband Gary.  Her Grandchildren Kristen and Garret, Four great grandchildren Gabriel, Jack, McKenzie, and Noah, and 98-year-old baby brother, Tom Bob, and numerous nieces and nephews.

   This is not an obituary. And there won't be a funeral.... well, not exactly anyway. All those obnoxious cousins and jokers might want to have the last say after all. 

  Cremation arrangements will be handled in Florida.

A celebration of life for Ruth will be held on June  28,  2025 at the Hagerman Senior Center starting at 2:00 pm.

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