Ruth O. Aarnes was born on May 27,1901 in Marshalltown, Iowa to Quincy and Millie Stanfield. While growing up she lived in rural North Dakota; Spring Valley,Mn.; Sturgeon Bay, Wi.; Stanley, ND: Paynesville, Mn.; Hibbing, Mn.; Boise, Id: and Tucumcari, NM, as well as serving as a Deaconess for her church in Sidney, Mt and Sweet Springs, Mo. She was united in marriage to Rev. Palmer Aarnes on April 14, 1930 in Minneapolis, Mn. They served churches in Niangua, Mo.; Bristol, SD; Granville, ND.(1941-1957- Granville Holiness Methodist Church); Sidney, Mt.;and in Watson, Mn., where she has lived since 1960. She has been a recent resident of the Madison Lutheran Home in Madison,Mn. She was a member of the Watson Evengelical Church and the WCTU.
Ruth died on December 30, 1993 at the Madison Lutheran Home at the age of 92. She is survived by daughters - Mildred (Mark) Frink of LaPaz, Bolivia; Dorothy (Rev. James) Lanz of Watson,Mn.; and Norma Jean (David) Freitag of Portland, Or.; by sons -Vernon (Donna Mae) Aarnes of Duluth, Mn.; and David Aarnes of Topeka, Ks.; 17 grandchildren; 16 great grandchildren; by foster children - Joy Calcine Furman and Samuel Calcine; by brothers - Wesley Stanfield of Los Angeles, Ca.; and Clinton Stanfield of Santa Cruz, Ca.; an uncle - David Lee Stanfield of Tucumcari, NM; as well as by numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, by her husband - Rev. Palmer Aarnes in 1976; by a daughter - Lorna Lee Aarnes in 1936; by brothers - Vernon and Lawrence Stanfield; and by a sister - Bertha Dennis.