This memory from Ruth’s nephew (sister Edith’s son Gary Seveny):
Ruth and her sister Edith were keen to help out the Canadian contingent supporting WW2 and they both signed up with the WACs (Women’s Auxillary Corps) and were separately posted to various CFB bases and were reunited at CFB Ottawa near the conclusion of the war.
Ruth married her sweetheart John Spencer in 1947. They had 3 children Jack, Jim and Linda. In the early 1950s, tragedy hit – Ruth and John, and sons Jack and Jim were diagnosed with TB (tuberculosis) and immediately isolated at the sanatorium in London, Ontario for treatment and observation. John’s was most serious requiring his right lung to be removed. Ruth and children were treated and released after months of treatment, isolation and observation and returned to their Rife Avenue home in Hespeler.
It seems that most of my aunts, uncles, mother & father worked for Dominion Woollens. Hespeler was a small but bustling manufacturing town and textiles was a major industry.
I remember as a 5 year old child, walking with my grandmother from our Adam St. home to sit on the wall across the street from Dominion Woollens to greet them at the end of the workday. They all seemed so happy and chatty as they left work. I really think Dominion was like family to them.
Ruth was a real character and joker. She was outspoken on any subject and was probably the closest thing to a feminist in her day. She dominated conversations and could speak louder than any man in a social setting. She was smart, lively and caring always for the bigger picture.
Ruth never lost sight of her time in service to Canada. She was a dedicated veteran who coalesced veterans into membership in the local Hespeler Legion. Truly dedicated to service and the grander need to represent veterans, she rose through the ranks of the Royal Canadian Legion to achieve the highest role in Canada. She had a vision and saw a need and worked diligently to be proactive to ensure that veterans received benefits and were recognized for their service to Canada.
About 1957, her husband John had a fatal car accident at the little dam (Beaverdale Road) just outside Hespeler when his car blew a tire and careened into a large tree and the steering wheel compressed John’s chest and his lung, suffocating him as he was trapped in the car.
A short time later, Ruth was introduced to her older brother’s army buddy Buck (Robert) Stinson, a career soldier and cook. They married and moved to London, Ontario where he was based. Ruth had two more children with Buck – 2 daughters, Coleen and Maureen carrying Irish names to recognize Buck’s Irish roots.
Five children never slowed Ruth down. These were her most active years in the Royal Canadian Legion and she squeezed in travel, family and homelife into fulfilment of ambitions and dreams.
Ruth was also instrumental to keep the grander Zvaniga family group (almost all located in the Galt, Preston and Hespeler area) involved in the annual Zvaniga picnic that was originally started by her uncles at Happy Acres at Little Dam then moving to Sage’s Farm near Doon, Ontario as the outing started to exceed 100 people. Ruth would stir family members into a frenzy to participate in races, embarrassing games like water balloon toss, horseshoe tossing competitions and family competitive baseball.
A stirring meal was contributed by all and topped off the picnic with euchre championships for the Schithouse Trophy running into the late evening.
Ruth was a star baseball player from her teens right into her 30s. Always active and pushing her team to many wins. In fact, she and her uncle Huntz were the organizers of women’s and mens teams from Hespeler called the Swanees. Many a trophy was celebrated over the years.
Annie Stoddart
Ruth and Buck’s 25th Anniversary
I am leading a very quiet life at present. I am no longer with the Australians, but I am in Scotland with the R.A.F. At this moment I am with an attachment on the Isle of Man, a very beautiful place. Came by boat and lucky for me it was a calm sea. The next stage of my trip was by rail. You should see the Manx Special, in fact the whole railroad system is on a miniature scale, like the toy trains we used to see at the Toronto Exhibitions. The coaches are glorified cattle trucks. I placed my bag in the rack and down it came—no bottom. You talk about your Toonerville Trolley, this one would put a jack rabbit to shame. I have Saturdays off so I head for town for a feed each weekend. We can get lots of eggs and milk and once I was even asked how I would like my steak done.
They use the bagpipes for music and while this was going on even the seagulls, of which there are hundreds, came to attention.
J17310 F/O Midgely D.E.
R.C.A.F. Overseas.