Olive Ruth Irish

Olive Ruth Irish, 93, left this earthly pale and went home to her Lord Saturday, October 20, 2007. Born January 2, 1914 to Martha Jane Stewart Wiseman and Charles Allen Wiseman at their country home in Arabia, OH, the youngest of 12 children; she was a long time member of First Christian Church in Owensboro and faithfully attended the Friendship class and was a Deacon in the church for many years.
One of her proudest achievements was starting and developing the Chaplain Assistance Program at Owensboro Daviess County Hospital. As almost a full-time volunteer, she managed the program for over 20 years.
Ruth attended Mason High School and graduated from Waterloo High School in southern Ohio where she played basketball on the Waterloo basketball team. She attended Rio Grande College where she met her future husband Paul Irish. They were married October 1932 in the parsonage of the Baptist Church in Ironton, Ohio.
Ruth and Paul (deceased in 1992) had three children, Gerry Duane Irish (deceased in 2000), Margaret Ruth Irish Field (married to Ben Field) and Carolyn Dale Irish Nichols, married to John Nichols (deceased in 1998).
In 1932, the family were farmers in southern Ohio. They moved to the mountains of eastern Kentucky in 1934 where his parents were missionaries in the town of Big Creek. In 1935 they moved back to South Charleston, Ohio where Ruth worked at Crowell-Collier Publishing in Springfield. When World War II started, the family moved to Stevensville, Michigan in 1941 and lived with grandparents when Paul went off to Germany. Ruth worked at Cooper Wells Co. manufacturing ladies dresses and hosiery. That plant was soon converted to a war plant where Ruth sewed parachutes, sleeping bags and shelter halves. She worked as a seamstress doing piece work and was eventually named timekeeper.
When Paul was stationed in Nebraska, Ruth went there to be with him. While there she played the piano at the USO to entertain the soldiers. After the war, the family moved to Berea, Kentucky where Paul graduated from Berea College. While Paul was in school, Ruth worked in the Berea College Bakery as office manager, order taker and route manager.
In 1947, the family moved to Owensboro where Paul began his career as a veterans agriculture teacher in Daviess County. Ruth began her career as secretary for Cap Gardner in the Gardner Insurance Agency where she worked for 27 years.
The one thing consistent in Ruths life was playing the piano. An accomplished pianist, she could play any piece in any key and play anything without music. She could play by ear any song you could whistle or sing. She loved playing the piano in church, Sunday school, and other civic meetings around Owensboro.
Ruth is survived by her daughters, Carolyn Nichols of Frankfort, and Margaret Ruth Field and son-in-law Ben Field of Evansville; a daughter-in-law, Martha Lane Preston Irish of Wheeling, WV; seven grandchildren; and seven great grandchildren.
Services are 11 A.M. Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at Glenn Funeral Home with Rev. Phillip Curran officiating followed by burial in Elmwood Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9-11 A.M. at the funeral home.
Expressions of sympathy may take the form of donations to the First Christian Church, 700 JR Miller Blvd, Owensboro, KY 42303.
Online condolences may be left at www.glennfuneralhome.com.