Sometimes people come into our lives and are more like family than our own blood relatives. I think that could be said of our subjects for this weeks post, Don and Ruby Myers.

Ruby Myers was part of the church where Kermit and his family attended there in Adaline. Ruby had three older brothers who were painting contractors by trade and one younger sister. When Eunice married Kermit she automatically became a member of this fellowship group. Later Don, joined the group when he married Ruby.

When I asked Raymond if he knew Ruby’s maiden name he said Myers. Then I said I thought her married name was Myers, he said it was. I know you’re probably looking at this post the way that I was looking at Raymond, but let me assure you that Ruby and Don were not related, until they became married. I asked Raymond if he knew how they met and he said he did not Like the good genealogist I am, I started searching in ancestry.com records to see what I could find.

The first thing I found was the 1950 census. This recorded them living in Adeline. Raymond says they lived across the street from Bessie’s grocery store. First I looked at Ruby, listed as her occupation was stencil work and the industry a printing plant. Don and Ruby were listed as husband and wife on the census and Don’s occupation was bookbinder at a printing plant. When I told Raymond what Don’s occupation was he said that he had worked at Cables and that’s what it was a printing plant. I said do you suppose that’s how they met? He said he didn’t really know how Don and Ruby had met, but that whenever Kermit and Eunice would go off to a turkey show or sales event, that Don and Ruby would stay with them. In fact Don and Ruby were so much a part of the family that Kermit and Eunice had in their will listed the Myer’s as guardians for their children if something were to occur to them.

Don and Ruby were close friends with the Millers for their whole lives. As a child and later as a height-challenged adult, Don always seemed larger than life. His height and voice always struck me as more than what a normal person would have. He always had a smile and seemed so happy to sit and talk with you no matter what. And how he doted on Ruby. You could tell that he thought the sun rose and set on her.

Ruby passed away on October 28, 2011, at 94, in Mount Morris, Illinois. I never found the date of their marriage, but Don’s obituary stated that they were married in 1949. I also learned that Don served in World War II in the Navy on the USS Colorado, USS Antietam, and the USS Hancock as they fought in the Pacific Theater. Don died on February 7, 2024, at the age of 97, leaving our lives better for having experienced some of theirs.