Della Ruth Barnett

Della Ruth was born to Claude Ray and Dora Elizabeth (Embree) Black on July 3,

1919. The Blacks made their home on the land that Claude and Dora homesteaded in

1909. The homestead was five miles east and ¾ mile south of Forgan, Oklahoma.

Della Ruth was one of four girls given to Claude and Dora by our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ. The oldest was Rosamond M. (1910), next was Rosalind B. (1911), then

Mildred E. (1914). Later Rosamond married Lyle R. Bastian and they resided in Del

City, Oklahoma. Rosalind was unmarried and lived in Denver, Colorado until later in

life when she moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Mildred married Bill Priesker and

they resided in Wichita, Kansas. Mildred had one daughter, Gilberta.

Della Ruth attended grade school in Capital Hill, a one-room school which no longer

exists, and Forgan, Oklahoma. She was in the class of 1936-37.

Della Ruth married Lester Wayne Barnett in December 1936. They made their home

in Forgan, Oklahoma, except for a few years in Parsons, Kansas where Lester retired

from the MKT Railroad after nearly 40 years of employment with the railroad. After

retirement, Lester and Della Ruth moved back to Forgan to the home they purchased

in 1939.

The marriage of Lester and Della Ruth was blessed with the birth of a daughter,

Beverly Ruth (December 30, 1938) and Jerold Wayne (August 19, 1942). Beverly

married Richard LeRoy Pierce in December 1956. They were blessed with three

boys, David Eugene, Steven LeRoy, and Mark Allen. David married Carla and had

one daughter, Christa. Steven married Janice and had two sons, Colby and Nicholas.

Mark married Audrea and had twin sons, Mason and Rylan. Jerold married Gail

Elaine Kinney in Westminster, Colorado in May 1978 and they were blessed with two

children, daughter Andrea Gail and son Philip Wayne. Andrea married Andrew

Thayer Spivey in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (2013) and they have a daughter, Madlen

Gail and a son, Erik Thayer.

Della Ruth was active in the United Methodist Church where she sang in the choir and

was highly involved in the United Methodist Women’s group. Della Ruth was

remembered for giving her reports on the UMW group at the charge conference

meetings. Everyone was always amazed at how many activities her small gathering of

women accomplished in a year.

Della Ruth basically ran the Church’s yearly Ground Hog Supper. She kept

everybody in line and on task. She was also employed by the Forgan Golden Agers

facility where she and her group of women quilted many a family some beautiful

gifts. However, her chief vocation was as a homemaker and mother, grandmother,

and great-grandmother. She loved quilting and baby sat many children while living in

Forgan.

Della Ruth and Lester enjoyed many evenings with friends playing pitch or canasta.

They loved making ice cream since the Blacks furnished the cream and the Barnetts

furnished the ice.

Della Ruth was preceded in death by her grandparents, parents, husband Lester, her

three sisters, her niece Gilberta, son-in-law Richard, two grandsons, David and Steven

and several nieces and nephews. Della Ruth passed on July 10, 2025.