Ruthelene Brownlee was born on a farm near Ida Grove, Iowa, to Eugene and Eva Ferguson Batson. She had one sister, Lois who has passed away. Ruthelene attended 1st through 6th grades at a country school, then attended 7th through 12th grades in Ida Grove Public Schools, graduating in 1942.
On October 17, 1948, Ruthelene was united in marriage to Marvin Brownlee. Together they did not have children, but Ruthelene loves Marvin’s six children: Dorothy, Dolores, Donna, Janice, James, and Jerry. She has 20 grandchildren, 43 great-grandchildren and 13 great-great grandchildren. Marvin passed away in June 1994.
Over the years, Ruthelene held many jobs. Her first job was housecleaning and evening cook at the Ida Grove Hospital, a job she held for 13 months. From there, she went to Wolf & Company (a merchandise store) for six years, where she was a clerk for two years and bookkeeper and clerk for four years. She then spent many years with Marvin working on cars, pumping gas, checking oil, washing windows, etc. After moving to Havelock, Iowa, Ruthelene worked for the school as a secretary. For eight years she spent her summer months working at the branch bank and towns city clerk office. The last fifteen years, before retirement, she worked as a bookkeeper and teller at the Laurens State Bank. After retirement, Marvin and Ruthelene moved to Rogers, Arkansas. There they spent 25 years and met many wonderful people. She returned to Iowa in 1999.
Ruthelene Brownlee joined the Willow Dale Wellness Village Assisted Living facility on November 30, 2005.
Reading and crocheting doilies and afghans are among her hobbies. Electricity has impacted her life the most. Ruthelene was a freshman in high school before electricity was ran into her home. Even then, it was just a cord coming through the center of the room with a light bulb in it. Before the light bulb, she used a kerosene lamp to read by. Smiling Ruthelene admits “There was never running water either. We carried all the water into the house by pails from the windmill”.