Ruth Hayden

Ruth Kelley Hayden, 97, of Atwood, died Saturday, December 29, 2018, at the Rawlins County Health Center. Ruth was born in Atwood, June 22, 1921, to Irene (Henderson) and Alonzo W. Kelley. She attended Atwood Grade School and graduated from Atwood High School in 1939. She earned an associate of arts degree from Cottey College in 1941 and a bachelor’s degree from Kansas University in 1943. On March 28, 1943, she married Irven W. Hayden Jr. at the Atwood Methodist Church. Ruth and Irv were blessed with seven children and 72 years of marriage, most of them spent in Atwood.

Ruth was a homemaker interested in writing, history and travel. While raising her family, she was a columnist for the Atwood Citizen-Patriot, producing “That’s Livin’” from 1956-1963 and the feature series “Interesting People” from 1959-1961. She published two volumes of Rawlins County history, "The Time that Was". Ruth and Irv were founding members of the Rawlins County Historical Society and members of the Kansas State Historical Society. Ruth was an agent for Atchison Travel and Arrow Travel in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Ruth was a member of the Atwood United Methodist Church, United Methodist Women, Chapter AX of P.E.O. International, the Town and Country Guild, Union HDU and the KU Alumni Association. She served on the board of directors of the Atwood Second Century Development Fund and on the scholarship committee of the Hanson Foundation. She was a Girl Scout, Boy Scout and 4-H leader.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; sisters and brothers-in-law, Mary (Pat) Maley and Lonnie (Bob) Frick; son Thorne Hayden; daughter Sally Hayden; son-in-law Mike Dennison and granddaughter Belle Hayden.

She is survived by five children, Mike (Patti) Hayden, of Lawrence, Kelley (Marta Heffner), of Reno, NV, Tom (Carol) Hayden, of Halfway, OR, Katy (Bob Tricks) Hayden, of Ellis and Paul (Tara) Hayden, of Atwood; five grandchildren and eight nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be 5-7:00 p.m. Friday, January 4, 2019, at Baalmann Mortuary, Atwood. Funeral Services will be at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 5, 2019 at the Atwood United Methodist Church. Burial will follow in Fairview Cemetery, Atwood. Memorials are suggested to Second Century, in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701. For condolences or information visit www.baalmannmortuary.com