Ruth Jane Caldwell

Ruth Caldwell

Ruth Jane Caldwell, 103, a longtime resident of Waldport, died June 7, 2012 in a care home in west Sacramento, Calif.

She was born at the family homestead in Uplika, Mo. She had six siblings. Her younger sisters, Edith and Ellen, are still living in Missouri and Washington state.

As a young girl, she worked alongside her father and pulled logs with a mule to get them to the mill. The family also grew corn, which was traded for milled wheat. They grew cane and made their own molasses. She worked in St. Louis, Mo., during World War II in an ammunition plant. She also owned three restaurants in California.

She is survived by her sons, Stan Musial of Harrisburg, Ore., Kenneth Musial of west Sacramento, Calif. and Lawrence Musial of Yachats; daughter, Mary Petree of Sacramento; 17 grandchildren; 32 great-grandchildren; and 18 great-great-grandchildren.

She was cremated, and her cremains will be buried between her parents’ graves in the family plot in Chapel Hills Cemetery near Williamsville, Mo.

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