Story and photo by Emily Ulrey
It’s funny how life puts you in the paths of others.
I never knew her, but grew up knowing some of her grandchildren. Ruth Anna Bixel’s name was suggested to me as someone who I might want to interview, so I had contacted her and she cheerfully agreed. As I knocked on her door, I felt nervous, unsure of how she might receive me.
I heard her call from inside. “Come in!” I opened the door, and she walked toward me, her arms outstretched. She gave me a big hug, and I hugged back, thanking her for agreeing to speak to me. She guided me to her sitting area near the window, pointing as she spoke.
“Look at those GEESE!” she said smiling. “There’s so many of them. They’re fun to watch, but they make awful messes everywhere” she stated matter-of-factly. She invited me to sit, so I did. We immediately began talking, and I soon realized she was a wealth of information.
Ruth Anna was born on Feb. 16, 1933, in Findlay. She was seven years old in 1940 when her family moved to Bluffton.
“We felt like foreigners when we moved here” she said. “Everyone spoke Swiss except for us.”
She attended Bluffton schools, loved music, sang in the church choir at Ebenezer Mennonite Church, and played several instruments including the piano and the clarinet.
She took part in various plays and musicals, and played the part of the pirate’s maid in Pirates of Penzance.
“I enjoyed it! I loved all of them!” Her other hobbies included baking, cooking, embroidery, quilting, and most of all reading. “I’d read all the books I could get ahold of!” she exclaimed. “I just couldn’t bring them all with me when I moved here in May.”
Although she liked school, she disliked physics the most. She would work in the cafeteria helping with meal preparation in exchange for 25 cents a week and a free meal, but before long, the payments stopped.
She talked about being active, saying that she enjoyed playing volleyball and roller-skating too. “Roller-skating?” I asked her. “Yes, Bluffton had a roller-skating rink up where ‘A-Z Meats’ is now” she stated plainly. I was surprised, having never heard of this before now. By the time she was in junior high, the skating rink didn’t exist.
Ruth also collected stamps but admitted she hasn’t done much with it lately. “I didn’t have much time for it once I got married” she told me. She had known Julius Bixel since moving to Bluffton when she was young, but only noticed him later once they were in High School. They got married in 1952 when she was 19.
She never attended college, but said if she had, she would have wanted to be a nurse. They had two daughters and four sons, but lost one of those sons at the age of three.
Although their life on the farm was a lot of work, and full of challenges, she valued the farm life. “A farm is a great place to raise a family.” She continued on and I feared I was running out of paper. My pen kept moving.
In vivid detail, she described their church life, their faith, and how much she appreciated her upbringing in the church. Her family often hosted missionaries in their home, earning the nickname of “Bixel’s Bed & Breakfast.”
Ruth described the many mission trips they took over the years, admitting that she likes to travel. Her travels took her to New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Colombia, Haiti, Equador, and Russia.
She even took a boat ride on the Rhine River. “I like boats too-little boats though. I’m not so sure about the ocean.” She laughed. Four pages later, I found myself with numerous stories, and began to wonder how I would begin to sort through it all.
“What about food? What’s your favorite food?” I asked. Ruth smiled at me. “Food; I just like food, and the food here is really good.”
Ruth continued to share the stories of her life with me, saving her best for last. As I got up to leave, I asked about her maiden name. “It was Lee. I’m actually a descendent of Robert E. Lee’s Brother, Richard Lee,” she said, stating that it was at least four generations back.
She went on to say that George Washington also holds a spot somewhere on her family tree, as well as a queen of a certain monarchy.
I was amazed at her life story, and felt blessed that she shared it with me. After taking a few photographs, I packed up my camera and gathered my things, promising to visit again in the future. As I turned to leave, I asked her to share some of her insights into life.
“I’m blessed to live in Bluffton. Bluffton is a neat, well cared-for town, and we are blessed to have all of the wonderful shops and businesses here. God bless each and every one of you. God is good!” Amen to that.
