Ruth Elizabeth (Peitz) Taggart was born in Winner, SD on December 6, 1935. She was the fourth of seven children born to William and Betty (Bruce) Peitz.
Growing up on the farm Ruth enjoyed walking to school with her brothers and sisters and playing with the neighbor girls. Her imagination for “make believe” was a great characteristic of Ruth’s creativity.
Ruth graduated from Colome High School in 1953. After high school she worked at The Winner Advocate. She loved her job and was good at it. Fate had different plans for her though as she soon met Paul Taggart, her love of 60 years. They married on November 12, 1955 and moved to Paul’s family farm northwest of Dallas, SD and raised five children. She was a wonderful wife, mother, and business partner. Ruth was active in her children’s school activities as well–serving as fund raiser and chaperone for various high school events. She never missed a wrestling match, baseball, football, or basketball game.
In 1980 Paul and Ruth along with the help of their five kids began one of the first commercial pheasant hunting operations in SD. They named it P&R Hunting Lodge. It was a great success and she took great pride in nurturing it. Her grandchildren grew up watching and learning from her. They will all tell you she was a great influence in shaping their lives today.
Ruth was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church. Her favorite saying was “You must walk through glass to get to mass”.
In 2010, Paul and Ruth moved from the farm and retired in Gregory, SD. From here she followed the grandkids in their sports activities. She was also a huge NFL fan and was always following her favorite teams and had great fun placing wagers on the game. She was an accomplished breadmaker and made it her duty to make sure that everyone got a taste. Her blue Lincoln car was fondly called the “blue bread buggy.” If you saw it, you can be sure she was delivering some warm rolls to someone. When asked why she did it, she would reply, “Because I want too.”
After a short illness, Ruth passed away February 10, 2016 at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls at the age of 80 years.
Loading ...