Ruth Royston George
COLUMBIA — Ruth Royston George of Columbia died Friday, Sept. 2, 2011. She was 87.
Mrs. George was born Oct. 7, 1923, in Howard County to James Foy Royston and Ann Marie Simmons Royston. She was the third of seven children.
Mrs. George attended Columbia public schools and was a graduate of MU. Upon graduation, she moved to Brookings, S.D., where she began a distinguished career in home economics.
She returned to Missouri after marrying Robert George in 1948, continuing her career as a home economist with MU Extension. She earned several awards for her work in assisting young women advance their careers, including the Distinguished Service Award from the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in 1960.
“She was very interested in helping young people. She did a lot of work with helping young women and directing them toward their careers,” Don Royston, her brother, said. “She was very outgoing, well liked. She was easy to know, and she was very dedicated in her work.”
Mrs. George was very caring and always busy, her brother said, “and she enjoyed life tremendously.”
Mrs. George’s life was not without hardship, though.
“The Depression started in '29. She was born in '23. She was on a farm at the time. She remembered milking cows; Dad raised beans, selling them for $.10 a bushel, homemade cinnamon rolls our mother made after school, words of encouragement,” Royston said. “Christmas sometimes was kind of slight, maybe just some oranges. It was not an easy life during the Depression.”
Mrs. George is survived by her brother, Don Royston, and his wife, Joyce, of Huntsville, Ala.; two sisters, Mary Cannon of Lee’s Summit, and Susan Elliott and her husband, Jack, of Pittsburgh, Pa.; a sister-in-law, Kathryn Royston of St. Charles; a brother-in-law, William Schaefer of Sacramento, Calif.; and many nieces and nephews.
Her brother, James Royston, and sisters, Margaret Jones and Virginia Schaefer, died earlier.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Parker Funeral Service, 22 N. Tenth St. Friends may visit with the family following the service at the same location. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery, 1217 Business Loop 70 W.
Condolences can be posted at parkerfuneralservice.com.
