Ruth (BEARD) FULLER was born in Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa, in 1907, the daughter of Henry Clay BEARD and Anna Caletta (DUNCAN) BEARD. She attended Mount Ayr High School were she was a member of the basketball team, played tennis, and wrote for the Ayrplane, the high school newspaper. She was a member of the orchestra and was on the debate team. Ruth graduated in 1925 and continued her education at the State University of Iowa (now known as the University of Iowa, Iowa City). There, Ruth met her future husband, Bernard "Barney" A. FULLER, and the couple was married in August of 1928. The FULLERS resided in Centerville, Appanoose County, Iowa, where they were co-owners of Fuller Manufacturing Company and raised two daughters.

Ruth was the first female airplane pilot of Appanosse County, In 1943, Ruth began taking flight instruction, receiving her Private Pilot Certificate at the age of thirty-seven. She traveled with her husband, carrying passengers on their Aeronca Chief side-by-side aircraft. Active in community and volunteer work, Ruth worked with the Democratic National Committee Women for Iowa and the Council of Catholic Women.

When the FULLERS retired in 1976, they moved from Centerville, Iowa, to the Moble Home Park in North Fort Myers, Florida. They were out on the Six Lakes Country Club every day, enjoying a round of golf. Ruth authored a monthly column, "Personalities" for the Six Lakes Country Club's monthly magazine, Splash.

The FULLERS later returned to reside in Iowa. Barney FULLER died in 1997. Ruth (BEARD) FULLER died in January, 2008.

Ruth (BEARD) FULLER's papers and documents have been donated to the Iowa Women's Archives at the Univerity of Iowa Libraries. Included in this archive are her papers dated from 1925 to 2002 and a six-part memoir she wrote for her children entitled Memories of a Long Life in which she describes growing up in Mount Ayr and her life as a college student. In this memoir, Ruth noted, "For my life after school I had three choices. One was to be a physical education teacher or go on to law school like my father. [Ruth's father was a Mount Ayr attorney.] The other was not something I made public. It was to get married and have six children." Ruth's memoir continues, describing her life in Centerville, her work in local politics, clubs, and charitable organizations, and the development and operation of Fuller Manufacturing Company from 1946 to 1976. [The company manufactured farm implements.] Many color photographs are included in the memoir, a record of a life fully lived and enjoyed.

SOURCE: Iowa Women's Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa

Written & submitted by Sharon R. Becker, 2008

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