In Memory of Ruth Ann Hansen  1955-1995

One of my most treasured momentous from high school is a sketch of me in blue pencil copied from a photo in our senior yearbook. A surprise for my 18th birthday, I was delighted to receive this gift from fellow classmate Ruth Ann Hansen (Hudspeth).

Fellow classmate, but not fellow graduate. Three months before our graduation Ruth Ann withdrew from school, OK, dropped out. Bored and impatient to be on with life, she didn't see the need to continue with "classes that don't matter" for a diploma. No amount of arguing could change her mind. Her withdrawing from school just before graduation mirrored her very first day of grade school. Bored and hot, she climbed out an open window of her classroom and ran home long before the final bell rang to excuse the rest of the school.

A naturally gifted artist, Ruth Ann was funny, intelligent, compassionate, outspoken, impulsive, and deeply spiritual. She was a lot of fun to be around, and at the same time intellectually invigorating. She questioned and was interested in everything. A few years after high school our paths separated and contact between us diminished over time; until only a brief note sent with the annual Christmas card remained. The last time I saw her was shortly before her death from breast cancer in March 1995.

In those twenty odd years after high school she filled her life with among other activities, sky diving, leading desert survival groups, getting married and later divorced, being a foster Mom in a group home, having two children of her own (Cheyenne Robert and Joy Dawn), attending the University of Utah, selling her artwork, and practicing the art of healing.

Thoughts of Ruth Ann have been on my mind lately. She helped and enriched the lives of many, many people, only a few of whom I know. My life was one that she touched as we were teenagers and young adults. I will never be able to draw her portrait; All I can say right is, Thanks Ruth, You are Loved.           [From our 2003 Reunion Book]

BOUNTIFUL--Our brilliant, talented daughter, Ruth Ann succumbed to breast cancer March 21, 1995 at her parent's home in Bountiful, Utah.
She was born on her dad's birthday, November 30, 1955 in Cedar City,
Utah, the daughter of Aaron A. and Myrtle Esther Smith Hansen. She attended Viewmont High School and later the University of Utah, finishing all but the last quarter of school, due to her illness. She married Thomas Robert Hudspeth, May of 1984. They were later divorced.
She is survived by her children, Joy Dawn and Cheyenne Robert Hudspeth, both of Bountiful; her parents, Aaron and Myrtle; brothers, Reed Stewart Hansen, Lindon; Jon David Hansen, Salt Lake City; sisters, Erin Lee Curtis, Sandy; and Peggy Martin, North Salt Lake.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 25, 1995 at 2:00 p.m. in the Bountiful 13th Ward, 1356 North 650 East. Friends may call at Russon Brothers Bountiful Mortuary, 295 North Main, Friday evening from 7:00-9:00 p.m. and Saturday at the church from 12:45-1:45 p.m. prior to services. Interment, Centerville City Cemetery.      T 3/23 N 3/23