Ruth’s father Robert Burns Armstrong was a Los Angeles Times reporter and photographer. Ruth’s mother, Bess Furman Armstrong, was working in Washington D.C. covering the White House for the Associated Press, but wanted her children to be born in Nebraska. Ruth and her twin brother Robert were born in McCook, Nebraska on April 4, 1937. They were delivered by their uncle, Donald Furman a physician in McCook. Ruth Eleanor Armstrong was named for Ruth Bryan Owen, daughter of William Jennings Bryan and Eleanor Roosevelt, her Godparents.
Ruth attended Woodrow Wilson High School. She earned a BA from American University, Washington, D.C., in 1959. She earned an MA from American University, Washington, D.C., in 1969.
Ruth lived in Washington D.C. and Maryland. She worked for the National Library of Medicine for 5 years. As a writer for the Federal Energy Administration, she received a Certificate of Special Achievement in 1974. Later she started working as a soil survey editor for USDA.
Ruth moved to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1983 when the National Soil Survey Center moved there. She retired in 1993 after 28 years in Federal Service.
Ruth was a long-time member of the Episcopal Church. She was baptized at St. John's Episcopal Church, in Washington D.C. and confirmed at The Church of the Epiphany, also in Washington. After moving to Lincoln, she joined St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. In 2007 she transferred her membership to First Plymouth Congregational Church.
Ruth enjoyed playing the guitar and singing in choirs. Ruth wrote a lot of poetry and participated in poetry writing groups. She had a poem in Plains Song Review. 2002 Volume IV, published by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Ruth enjoyed reading English history and mystery novels. She read the newspaper every day.
She is survived by sister-in- law, Diana Armstrong, nieces Susan Ray and Melissa Moore, and nephew John Robert Armstrong.
Ruth was preceded in death by her twin brother Robert Furman Armstrong.
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Ruth’s father Robert Burns Armstrong was a Los Angeles Times reporter and photographer. Ruth’s mother, Bess Furman Armstrong, was working in Washington D.C. covering the White House for the Associated Press, but wanted her children to be born in Nebraska. Ruth and her twin brother Robert were born in McCook, Nebraska on A
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