Ruth Lathrop, age 98 of Lawrenceville, passed away Saturday, January 30, 2021 at Lawrence County Memorial Hospital. She was born February 12, 1922 in Bond Township in the “house of seven gables”.
Ruth married Robert Donald Lathrop on May 26, 1943 in St. louis. He preceded her in death on December 19, 2014.
After graduating high school from Lawrenceville Township High School in 1940, Ruth worked at F.W. Woolworth. She then married the love of her life, Don Lathrop. They moved to Medford, OR after he was assigned to Camp Adair, OR. While in Oregon, Ruth worked at Bear Creek Orchard. When Don returned home from Italy after WWII, they returned home to Lawrence County. She then worked at Suttle Equipment Company in Lawrenceville and Meissner’s in Bridgeport. She was also a homemaker to her family.
Ruth attended Pleasant Ridge Christian Church early in her life and later was a long-term member of the New Hope Christian Church in Bridgeport.
Collecting historical artifacts was a hobby of Ruth’s. She donated many of her finds to the Lawrence County Historical Society. Not only did she enjoy the hunt of finding treasures, she thoroughly enjoyed the people she met along the way. Something else that Ruth enjoyed spending time doing was genealogy research. She enjoyed researching her family as well as Don’s.
Surviving family includes: three children- Phillip Eugene Lathrop and wife Judy (Gaddey) of Guilford, IN, Stephen “Steve” Donald Lathrop and wife Mitzi (Absher) of Buncombe, IL, and Norma Ruth Jones and husband Jim of Clay City, IL: five grandchildren- Monica Heidkamp and husband Dave of Cincinnati, OH, Shannon Louis and husband Alex of Cincinnati, OH, Megan Ellis and husband Jeremy of Marion, IL, Stephanie Wells and husband Rich of Buncombe, IL, and Jessica Jones of Clay City, IL: eight great-grandchildren-Mackenzie, Elliot, Brianna, Sydney, Raegan, Eli, Henry, Isaac.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, first born son who passed at birth (Robert Garrett Lathrop), and six siblings.
A funeral service will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, February 5, 2021 at the Cunningham-Young Funeral Home in Lawrenceville. Visitation will be 5:00 p.m. until service time at 6:00 p.m. at the funeral home. A graveside service will take place Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. in Pollard Cemetery.
Online condolences can be sent to the family at www.cunninghamfuneralhomes.com.