Ruby Byrl Reese 1924-1978
Ruby Byrl Reese 1924-1878 & William Richard Albrecht 1924-2010
My Aunt Ruby was my mother (Josephine Roberta Reese’s) youngest sister. My grandparents (William Henry Reese and Mary Ellen Evans) had 9 children and Ruby was their last. Ruby was also the only child to have been born in a hospital. Soon after Ruby’s birth, my grandmother, Mary Ellen (Ella), died from an infection she contracted in the hospital.
After her mother died, Ruby and her 8 siblings were not in a stable environment for a while. The older siblings were in charge of the younger ones and the littlest ones were passed off to the single sisters of their father. I am not sure who cared for Ruby as an infant. This was not a happy experience for the children and was quite hard on my grandfather who had a ranch to take care of that demanded most of his time. The oldest sister, Letha was still quite young and she shouldered a lot of responsibility for the younger kids. There was an old ranch hand that sometimes cared for the kids as well. His name was Ollie. My own mom mentioned that of any of the others who were in and out of their lives, Ollie was the most like a mother.
Their father remarried one of the teachers from the school they attended. She did not have children of her own to my knowledge. My mom only had a few years of living with this stepmother but Ruby, being the youngest, had a lot more time with her stepmother than the rest. The children were to call her “Miss Moore”. They went through a lot and they were very close because of it. The older ones tried to take the younger ones off the farm as soon as they were grown and could do it.
My earliest childhood memories are about Ruby and my Mom. I think the first one is from when I was about two years of age and is just a snapshot memory of us, one that I call a “heart print”. We were out in the woods together lying on a blanket and looking up at the trees. The trees were so tall and I remember feeling safe with them.
Aunt Ruby and Uncle Willie were married June 3, 1944 and they were wanting a baby. The two of them and my parents doted on me because I was the only baby between the four of them. My coloring is more like my aunt’s than my mom’s, who was fair-skinned but had darker hair. Consequently, people often thought that Ruby was my mom. When I was older she told me how much that tickled her.
After WWII ended Aunt Ruby and Uncle Willie lived near my parents, in Sacramento, California, while they were still all young. Eventually they moved away to North Dakota where Willie’s parents had a farm. The young couple eventually bought the farm from Willie’s father, George Albrecht. It was in Rose Glen, near Garrison, North Dakota. Aunt Ruby and Uncle Willie grew crops of wheat and I think alfalfa. Their land was a beautiful, flat, wide-open property. It was many acres of crops and was adjacent to and on one side bordered an Indian Reservation.
We often saw Indians riding their horses on my aunt and uncle’s property. My brother recently pointed out to me that that was a big deal to little boys who loved playing Cowboys and Indians. He also reminded me of the barge that Uncle Willie had made and how we use to go out on the lake in it. One day we were out and a big storm came up quickly in the afternoon. As an adult now I realize it was a lot more serious than I thought then. The adults kept us feeling safe and we were just fine. But getting to shore was not easy. We did not get to see them often but every couple of years we would pile into our car and drive to North and South Dakota on vacation. We would visit my father’s (Ross W. Colberg’s) mother and stepfather, Alice Grace Godfrey Colberg Yeasley and Jacob Yeasley. Jacob was my step-grandfather. But to me he was just my Grandpa. We never knew our other grandfathers. We loved him and he was the best. (I never have liked those types of in-law references or step this and that. Family is family-no attachments matter to me except for genealogical purposes). We would also go to see my Aunt Ruby and Uncle Willie. We would visit other relatives of my mother’s as well in South Dakota. Those trips were the highlights of my own childhood. Visiting My Aunt Ruby and Uncle Willie was amazing! We lived in housing tract in Sacramento, California, but they lived way out in the country. The trip from our home was a long three days of driving. They had no running water but they did have an outhouse, a garden with vegetables growing, a bunkhouse, and lots of huge farming machinery. They also had a big sky. You could see forever out there between the farms. It was so pretty in the spring and summer. It was a real adventure for my two younger brothers and me. My brothers and I loved them so much because they were fun and paid some attention to us, with things like letting us “drive” the big combine (with supervision of course). They still had no children of their own, so we three were a novelty for them. One thing about their house was you had to take a bath in the kitchen in a big tub. That was after the water had been pumped and hauled in and heated. Even back then that seemed so old-fashioned to us. At one point, in the later years, it was nice that they got an inside bathroom with a shower! In 1959 they adopted a little baby boy and he was the light of their lives; he was that light as long as they both lived. My brothers and I loved to be with him, especially my youngest brother who was only 7 years older than their “baby.” Harvest time with them was really something! We were there one time and it was mind-blowing. My aunt cooked and baked non-stop from before the crack of dawn until way after dark. My mom and I helped all day long cooking and cleaning up. There were 8 men in the bunkhouse and all of us to feed. Breakfast was a full-on buffet with all kinds of food: eggs, meats, hash browns and either pancakes, waffles, or lots of toasts and sometimes even homemade cinnamon rolls. Lunch and dinner were both regular, hardy dinners. Each had its own unique entrée with all its trimmings. A bag lunch went out to the men in the field at mid-morning and mid-afternoon. It was insane and interesting at the same time. Who can eat that much I wondered as a child? I still do wonder. Ruby worked so hard. The men did too. Every day she made beautiful fresh pies, cakes and bread. She had no freezer. So there was no way to do any of it ahead of time. I never heard her complain about anything. A few random things I remember about all of my aunts and my Mom. As sisters they totally enjoyed trading clothes and jewelry with each other. I can still see them all sitting around discussing why they thought they should have this or that piece for a while. They were all beautiful women and all looked stunning in their 40s attire and amazing 40s pumps. Future generations would try in vain to reproduce that 40's look in shoes. They were special. They were a “class act,” those Reese sisters. Ruby had become a very good painter. I had taken an art history class in college and she loved my textbook about all the famous painters from the 19th century in Europe. I sent her home with it so she could keep it. She was thrilled. It was the last time I saw her alive. My Aunt Ruby died of breast cancer that had metastasized to her brain in 1978. It was a heart breaker for all who knew and loved her, especially her family. She had made a trip out west to say good-bye to all of her sisters in California. That was when I gave her the art book. I don't know if she also saw her three brothers also who lived in Washington and South Dakota. Shortly after that she took a turn for the worse and a few months later she was gone. She was a lovely and spiritual person. Her faith in God was evident. That last time I saw her we discussed it at length. She was faithful and good woman with an abiding faith in Jesus Christ. She was an incredible woman and such a gem. The name Ruby was just perfect for her. BJC 14 March 2017
After WWII ended Aunt Ruby and Uncle Willie lived near my parents, in Sacramento, California, while they were still all young. Eventually they moved away to North Dakota where Willie’s parents had a farm. The young couple eventually bought the farm from Willie’s father, George Albrecht. It was in Rose Glen, near Garrison, North Dakota. Aunt Ruby and Uncle Willie grew crops of wheat and I think alfalfa. Their land was a beautiful, flat, wide-open property. It was many acres of crops and was adjacent to and on one side bordered an Indian Reservation.
We often saw Indians riding their horses on my aunt and uncle’s property. My brother recently pointed out to me that that was a big deal to little boys who loved playing Cowboys and Indians. He also reminded me of the barge that Uncle Willie had made and how we use to go out on the lake in it. One day we were out and a big storm came up quickly in the afternoon. As an adult now I realize it was a lot more serious than I thought then. The adults kept us feeling safe and we were just fine. But getting to shore was not easy. We did not get to see them often but every couple of years we would pile into our car and drive to North and South Dakota on vacation. We would visit my father’s (Ross W. Colberg’s) mother and stepfather, Alice Grace Godfrey Colberg Yeasley and Jacob Yeasley. Jacob was my step-grandfather. But to me he was just my Grandpa. We never knew our other grandfathers. We loved him and he was the best. (I never have liked those types of in-law references or step this and that. Family is family-no attachments matter to me except for genealogical purposes). We would also go to see my Aunt Ruby and Uncle Willie. We would visit other relatives of my mother’s as well in South Dakota. Those trips were the highlights of my own childhood. Visiting My Aunt Ruby and Uncle Willie was amazing! We lived in housing tract in Sacramento, California, but they lived way out in the country. The trip from our home was a long three days of driving. They had no running water but they did have an outhouse, a garden with vegetables growing, a bunkhouse, and lots of huge farming machinery. They also had a big sky. You could see forever out there between the farms. It was so pretty in the spring and summer. It was a real adventure for my two younger brothers and me. My brothers and I loved them so much because they were fun and paid some attention to us, with things like letting us “drive” the big combine (with supervision of course). They still had no children of their own, so we three were a novelty for them. One thing about their house was you had to take a bath in the kitchen in a big tub. That was after the water had been pumped and hauled in and heated. Even back then that seemed so old-fashioned to us. At one point, in the later years, it was nice that they got an inside bathroom with a shower! In 1959 they adopted a little baby boy and he was the light of their lives; he was that light as long as they both lived. My brothers and I loved to be with him, especially my youngest brother who was only 7 years older than their “baby.” Harvest time with them was really something! We were there one time and it was mind-blowing. My aunt cooked and baked non-stop from before the crack of dawn until way after dark. My mom and I helped all day long cooking and cleaning up. There were 8 men in the bunkhouse and all of us to feed. Breakfast was a full-on buffet with all kinds of food: eggs, meats, hash browns and either pancakes, waffles, or lots of toasts and sometimes even homemade cinnamon rolls. Lunch and dinner were both regular, hardy dinners. Each had its own unique entrée with all its trimmings. A bag lunch went out to the men in the field at mid-morning and mid-afternoon. It was insane and interesting at the same time. Who can eat that much I wondered as a child? I still do wonder. Ruby worked so hard. The men did too. Every day she made beautiful fresh pies, cakes and bread. She had no freezer. So there was no way to do any of it ahead of time. I never heard her complain about anything. A few random things I remember about all of my aunts and my Mom. As sisters they totally enjoyed trading clothes and jewelry with each other. I can still see them all sitting around discussing why they thought they should have this or that piece for a while. They were all beautiful women and all looked stunning in their 40s attire and amazing 40s pumps. Future generations would try in vain to reproduce that 40's look in shoes. They were special. They were a “class act,” those Reese sisters. Ruby had become a very good painter. I had taken an art history class in college and she loved my textbook about all the famous painters from the 19th century in Europe. I sent her home with it so she could keep it. She was thrilled. It was the last time I saw her alive. My Aunt Ruby died of breast cancer that had metastasized to her brain in 1978. It was a heart breaker for all who knew and loved her, especially her family. She had made a trip out west to say good-bye to all of her sisters in California. That was when I gave her the art book. I don't know if she also saw her three brothers also who lived in Washington and South Dakota. Shortly after that she took a turn for the worse and a few months later she was gone. She was a lovely and spiritual person. Her faith in God was evident. That last time I saw her we discussed it at length. She was faithful and good woman with an abiding faith in Jesus Christ. She was an incredible woman and such a gem. The name Ruby was just perfect for her. BJC 14 March 2017
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