Ruth E. (Rutledge) Halbert

Ruth Elnora Halbert, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt and friend to so many, went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on December 4, 2022 at her home in Nampa, Idaho at the age of 94.

Born to Rev. and Mrs. Archie Rutledge on April 18, 1928 in San Fernando, California, she was the second of four children.  As a pastor’s daughter, she lived her early years moving from place to place as her parents planted 23 churches for the Church of the Nazarene throughout the United States.

Her father, as well as being the pastor of a little church in San Fernando, and with a curious love of life, also drove the town ambulance which belonged to the local mortuary.  On the day of Ruth’s birth, he put Mom & baby in the ambulance and drove all over town with the siren screaming just to announce the birth of his new daughter!  With his flair for spontaneous celebrations, the siblings grew up always expecting some excitement and lots of impromptu occasions.

While Ruth’s folks were pastoring the Nazarene church in Clinton, Iowa, her older brother, Robert was drowned at the municipal swimming pool at the age of 11. Ruth’s younger sister Evelyn was her only remaining sibling until on Ruth’s 21st birthday, her parents announced that they were expecting another child.  In 1949, after Ruth had left for college, her brother John joined the family.

Ruth couldn’t remember how many schools she attended, but she finally graduated from High School at Northwest Nazarene Academy in Nampa, Idaho in 1946.  When she graduated, she had already completed her first year of College at Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa in an accelerated program as a provisional freshman which was a special government program during World War II.  She remembered that the room, board, and tuition for her first year of college was $350.00 with $30.00 a year extra for private voice lessons.

She then transferred to Pasadena Nazarene College for the next 3 years where she majored in music & religion.  She was active in the music program which included opera, and the performance of Rigoletto.  She also traveled with trios & singing groups during her school years and the summer of 1949 traveling all summer in concerts in numerous states, representing the school.

After college, she settled in Burbank, Ca. where she attended the Nazarene Church and became the Minister of Music for 15 years.  In school, she had also studied accounting and to supplement her income, became an employee of Lockheed Aircraft in the cost accounting department where she remained for 9 years.

On a spring Sunday morning in April of 1952, a United States Airman visited her church and “across a crowded room” that soldier and Ruth saw each other and were immediately smitten.  They continued to date for 7 months while he was stationed in Burbank, but then Dick got his orders and was shipped to Europe for two years during the Korean conflict.  Their romance continued through the next two years with twenty-two-page letters (by Dick) until October of 1954 when Dick returned home to Burbank for their long-awaited wedding. Dick asked Ruth to marry him in a love letter written from Europe on Valentine’s Day of 1954 and for the next 60 years, he continued to write a love letter to her every Valentine’s Day. Dick and Ruth became Mr. & Mrs. Richard Halbert on October 30, 1954 and lived in Burbank for the next 34 years as they raised their family.

Their children are Judy Halbert of Nampa, Idaho, Jeannie (Halbert) Keneley (Chuck) of Eagle, Idaho and Rev. Jim Halbert (Dori) of Nampa, Idaho.

As their children were growing, Ruth was employed by Drewry Photocolor Corp. in Burbank where she served for 18 years.  Part of this time she was Personnel/Payroll manager of the Corp. with over 1000 employees.  Later she was promoted to Assistant Controller where she remained until retirement.

Ruth and Dick moved to Nampa, ID in 1988 to spend their retirement years near family. They found an acre at the top of Greenhurst Road and built their dream home where they remained for 16 years before moving to a smaller more manageable home.

Ruth and Dick were members of Nampa First Church of the Nazarene where they made many dear friends and memories from 1988 to their deaths. Ruth went on a Work and Witness trip with the church in 2006 and in her later years, from 2001-2013 worked in the office at the church as the Friday receptionist.

If you knew Ruth, you knew she loved to talk about her kids, her 7 grandchildren and their spouses and her 13 great-grandchildren! She will always be remembered for the love she poured into her family, her friends, and her service to the Lord.

Ruth was predeceased by her devoted husband Richard L. Halbert in 2018 as well as her parents, Archie and Margaret Rutledge of Nampa, Idaho, brothers Robert and John Rutledge, her sister and brother-in-law Evelyn and Emerson Elmore of Nampa, Idaho as well as various aunts, uncles, cousins and her dear nephew, Doug Elmore of Nampa, Idaho.

Ruth spent more than the last year of her life on hospice and the family would like to extend a very special heartfelt thank you to the entire team from Treasure Valley Hospice, especially Beth, Holly, Anita and Sarah who never missed an opportunity to serve, bring a smile and make Ruth as comfortable as possible. Your commitment to Ruth and the family will never be forgotten.  And to the neighbors that never hesitated to lend a helping hand anytime the family needed it; Kelly and Todd Jeffs, Charlie and Donna Tye and Jim Loss, thank you!  Jimmy Davenport, you were always there to help whenever Ruth thought of a new project around the house.  Your unending patience and willingness to help will always be remembered!

A viewing will be held at the Nampa Funeral Home at 415 12th Ave. So. in Nampa, ID on Friday afternoon, December 9th from 4-6PM to allow friends time to visit with family.

A celebration of life service for Ruth will be held at the Nampa First Church of the Nazarene, 601 16th Ave S, Nampa, ID 83651 on Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 10:30 AM.  For those that cannot attend, a live stream of the service will be available through the Nampa Funeral Home website at www.nampafuneralhome.com

The service will be live streamed and the link is:https://my.gather.app/remember/ruth-e-halbert

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