Ruth Hastings

1895 - 1988

Ruth Hastings was born on January 30, 1895, in Gould City. When she was a child she never had pets, but she had two sisters, and a brother. Their names were Eula, Jula, and Joe. She went to school right here in Engadine. It wasn't very far, so she could walk. When she got home she did her chores, which usually included piling wood.

When she got older her first paying job was a bookkeeper. What she did, while she didn't have a computer, she used adding machines. Ruth was good at sewing quilts and clothes.

For breakfast she ate oatmeal and listened to the news on the radio. Whenever she needed to get from place to place she used a car. She collected things like old coins and stamps.

When she went on her first date she was about eighteen or nineteen at least, and if she wanted to go to the movies she had to pay twenty-five cents or fifty cents, and a candy bar or a pop cost five cents each. In her spare time she either helped out at the Freeman Grocery Store or did her sewing, like usual, for a little while.

She was married to Larry Hastings in Manistique; they were married from 1915 to 1971. Ruth and Larry had a daughter named Audrey and a son named Frank. When Ruth and Larry got older, they had six grandchildren. Four of them were Tom, Judy, Richard, and Laura. The travels Ruth had during her life were going to Florida every winter. She also went to Mexico, Washington, and Oregon. One thing that she enjoyed about the good old days was there was not much traffic back then.

The town was very small and not very many people could live there nor many people wanted to live there. She lived right next door to her son, Frank, so she could visit him anytime she wanted. She could go to his house and have dinner, or she could go to his house and ask him over for dinner, if it was O.K. with him. The home, she and her husband, Larry, lived in is today the Engadine Historical Society Museum

Kasey Russell

Fifth Grade

  Engadine Elementary School

Thank You to Mr.and Mrs. Frank Hastings for sharing information about his mother, Ruth.