On the day Ruth was born there had been a heavy snow storm.
The drifts were high and her mother and father were alone. Her mother (Belle)
went into labour and asked her husband (George) to go next door and phone
Dr. West.
Ruth's sister Goldie had been taken by Velma her aunt to Woodstock and
had been trapped by the snowstorm and stayed the night there. In the 1920's
there were not many telephones in Blandford Township just outside of Woodstock
and the next door neighbours didn't answer the door (Velma Robertson Raggett
said it was out of spite that they didn't). George ran 1 1/2 miles to the
next nearest phone which was at Bysham House (on the corner of Dundas Street
and Lansdowne Drive).
The doctor was on the elderly side and after hitching up his team and
he made his way to deliver the baby. Tired and cold he arrived only to
find that Belle had given birth with no one else in the house. Belle and
baby Ruth were well and seemly unconcerned. (Velma said Belle was one tough
cookie).
Ruth's name came from two sources, Eva was the middle name of one of
her father's sisters who died in the 1918 influenza epidemic, the name
being passed down in the family from Eve Oille and early ancestor and Ruth
after the baby aunt that passed away on her mother's side.
When Ruth was a 4 years old she fell from a fence on to pile of rocks,
this fall left her with a severe back injury that caused her to use crutches
for 9 years. She was cured by a chiropractor who was able to readjust her
spine back into place.
Ruth was influenced by a man she remembered only as Charles, (Charles
Sprague the husband of her grandmother's nieces Edna Chance) one
of Julia Chance Robertson's nieces. He was a very good looking man, drove
a large white car and came for a visit to Woodstock with his wife and father-in-law
Julia's brother William Henry Chance. He was instrumental in convincing
Eva Ruth Gable that she could overcome her need for crutches and canes.
Through this encouragment and the chiropractor Ruth was able to recover
her ability to walk unassisted.
After the separation of her parents and her accident, she lived with
her grandparents Alexander D. Robertson and Julia M. Chance in Woodstock,
Ontario.
While there she learned a great deal of family stories from her grandparents.
Many of these stories she passed on to her children. One such story was
that her brothers and herself were tired of the distance they had to carry
water from the well. They decided while the mother was in town visiting
her parents that they would dig a new well closer to the house. By the
time the mother got home the well was dug and water was at the bottom.
The grandfather was angry in addition to the mother but, he took a sample
back to town to have it tested before any water could be used. The
water proved good and to this day (1999) the well is still in use.
Another such story was when her family lived at Muir, Ontario there
was a strong cyclone. As she watched out her window, she noticed her uncle
Joe at the barn door laughing at something. She look around and saw that
her father and his team of horses had been caught in the wind and where
sailing through the air, the horses still moving their feet as if still
walking on the ground.
In a few seconds, they were thrown against an embankment. Her uncle
was still laughing at the door of the barn but, while he laughed at Ruth's
father's situation, he failed to notice that the entire roof of the barn
and part of the walls had been sucked away.
Life has not always been easy for Ruth, her husband died in 1966 on
the day her oldest daughter married. Afterwards she raised her children,
on her own. Ruth has always been cheerful and loving, the centre of her
family.
During World War II she was employed in London, Ontario as a welder
making Army Trucks. She met her future husband Carvil Bonk in Woodstock
at the Maple Leaf restaurant and her nickname for him was
"Bunky". After their marriage she lived in Oxford County
and for a brief time in and Manitoba then Swift Current, Saskatchewan,
finally settling in Woodstock, Ontario.
After the death of her husband, she was employed the by Dr. Robert Corlett
as his housekeeper for over 12 years. She then was employed by the Oxford
Regional Centre where she worked in the dietary division until arthritis
forced her into retirement several years before official retirement.
Ruth enjoyed crafts and travel, she was noted for her excellent apple
pie and relishes. Towards the end of her life she lived in a Seniors' building
and was involved heavily in fund raising and service work within the group
there.
