Ruth Lincoln

Ruth Lincoln passed away early Christmas morning at the age of 94. She grew up on a farm when children rode their horses to a nearby country school and retired after teaching high school students to use computers. But perhaps the biggest changes in her life were the ones she made. She started a promising career in an urban department store and decided to marry a farmer instead. She lived on a farm, supported women’s professional dreams, and enjoyed outdoor sports. She succeeded in every choice, without fanfare. She was born Oct. 17, 1928, to Edward and Hazel Reichert and grew up on the family’s farm south of Filer, Idaho. Ruth entered first grade during the Great Depression and graduated from high school in 1946, just after World War II ended. Her father told her and her three sisters that the best insurance policy he could buy them was an education, and all four daughters graduated from college. Ruth earned her bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Idaho in 1950, majoring in business with an emphasis in merchandising. In an age where only one in three women worked and women were urged to stay home and raise families, Ruth set her sights on a Boston school founded to help women to do otherwise. She enrolled in the master’s degree program at Simmons College, with a mission to promote women’s independence, equity, and justice, and “acquire an independent livelihood.” Her research focused on women’s fashion trends. After she finished her coursework, she moved to Seattle for a job with the Bon Marche, planning on a career in fashion merchandising for middle-class women in a big city. But then she had a flat tire on her way home for a visit and her plans began to change. Wayne Lincoln was driving by and stopped to help her. They had dated in high school but had fallen out of touch. They started communicating again and spent the Christmas holiday of 1952 splitting time between family get-togethers. Wayne proposed then, in what looks like a surprise, and took Ruth on a tour of the house they could live in. Once back in Seattle, Ruth wrote to him: “Could you send me a rough floor plan of the house sometime?? Just make it a general idea for I can’t remember too well how it was laid out. I was still fighting all ideas of marriage at the time you showed me the house so I really didn’t take a careful look. Now I wish I had!!” Wayne and Ruth married on June 14, 1953. They moved into that small house, built for a farmhand, and began more than 50 years of marriage -- two people independently successful in their careers and inseparable in their personal life. Ruth finished her thesis and earned her master’s degree in 1954, gave birth to her first son, Doug, in 1955, her second, Bruce, in 1957, and her third, Craig, in 1959. She raised the three sons in a two-bedroom house and helped with farm books. The family eventually moved into a rambling farmhouse where the boys each had their own bedroom and lived there until she was 93 years old. She earned a teaching certificate and, as all the boys entered school, she started a 25-year career at Filer High School teaching business courses and typing. She started with manual typewriters and ended with computer keyboarding. She was known as a disciplinarian with just a few rules, but rules students dare not bend, much less break, and also an effective motivator. One male student said she was a better and more positive motivator than any of his coaches. She continued to support women’s careers. Many female students credit her for helping them get their first jobs, start their own careers, and even their own businesses. Ruth also was active in P.E.O., a women’s organization promoting professional careers for women and raising money to support women’s education. She was a loyal fan of the Filer Wildcats teams her sons played on, even though she would sometimes bury her head in her hands during tense moments. Ruth and Wayne raised their boys in the United Methodist Church and were lifelong members. She and Wayne also introduced her boys to outdoor sports, possibly so she could enjoy outdoor adventure, too. They bought a camper shortly after she started teaching so they could spend Christmas breaks traveling the American Southwest and Mexico. The family hiked the desert, fished the Gulf of California in Mexico, and swam in the ocean. When the boys were out of the house, Ruth and Wayne started going on their own adventures, in their own way. Once they wanted to go on a guided whitewater trip but didn’t want a guide rowing them downstream. They looked until they found a non-traditional outfitter who let clients row their own boats down the Rogue River. Ruth broke an oar on that trip because, as she put it, the rock wouldn’t move when she wanted it to. They bought an RV and cruised the United States, Canada, and Mexico reaching the continent’s four corners, from Great Slave Lake to Baja, Key West to Quebec. They wedged in trips to Europe and Alaska and joined their sons on whitewater rafting trips. After Wayne’s death in 2008, Ruth traveled with her sisters Carol Johnson and Rose Ann Ransom. Once she surprised Craig when she returned a phone call from Klondike Kate’s in Dawson City, Yukon Territory, where she and Carol took a spur-of-the-moment road trip. In her 80s, she insisted on taking a spot on a paddle raft while floating the Main Salmon on a whitewater trip with Carol. The guide later told Doug she wasn’t sure at first about the older crew on her boat, but it became one of her favorite trips. She went on cruises in Europe and road trips with her sisters. She kept active, going to the gym with friends several times a week into her 90s. Ruth died of complications from progressive supranuclear palsy. She was preceded in death by her husband, Wayne; two sisters, Rose Ann Ransom of Tacoma, Wash., and Barbara Martyn of Eagle, Idaho. She is survived by her sister, Carol Johnson of Wasilla, Alaska; three sons, Doug (Mary Ann) Lincoln of Filer, Idaho, and their children Sara (Beto) Cosano of Ramstein, Germany, and Cynthia Lincoln of Twin Falls, Idaho; Bruce Lincoln of Olympia, Wash., and his children Miles Lincoln of Olympia, Wash., Reid Lincoln of Olympia, Wash., and Blake Lincoln of Tacoma, Wash.; and Craig (Pam) Lincoln of Bayfield, Wisc.; and one great-granddaughter, Anya Cosano of Ramstein, Germany. Family and friends are invited to a ceremony for Ruth Lincoln on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023 at 1:30 p.m., at the Magic Valley Arts Council, 195 River Vista Place, Twin Falls, Idaho. A remembrance ceremony will start at 1:30 p.m. Please help us protect our friends and family who are vulnerable to respiratory illnesses by taking appropriate precautions, such as staying home if you have symptoms, testing if you're not sure, staying up to date on vaccinations, and supporting those who choose to wear masks. We will have a recording of the ceremony available if you can't make it. We request memorials to the PEO Scholarship Fund for Chapter AH. You may deposit a check to the Ruth Lincoln Memorial at any First Federal Savings Bank. You may also mail a check to Chapter AH/Kathleen Karel, 2120E 3800N, Filer, Idaho 83328.