Ruth G Biggs

Born to celebrate and explore the world, Ruth G. Russell entered the world on December 10, 1932, born to Willis Ketcham Russell and Elizabeth Griffin Menzie in Syracuse, New York. Her older brother and only sibling, Carl William Russell, soon nicknamed her Sistie, a name she was known by among childhood friends as well as her family. She adored her growing up years: holidays spent with grandparents, hours of babysitting cousins, and family outings galore.

As a child, she filled her days with roller skating, neighborhood street games, swimming, radio programs, movies at the local theater, and family picnics at nearby lakes and parks. In school, she excelled at reading and spelling—so much so that she became bored with always getting 100% on spelling tests. She then misspelled a word on purpose, spelling “come” as “coem” and “was thrilled” to receive her first 95. Throughout her elementary and junior high years, she won several schoolyard races, foreshadowing the ribbons and medals she would win in her 70s at the annual Nestle 5k in Springville, Utah.

Music always played a huge role in Ruth’s life. During WWII, she and her friends marched neighborhood streets, singing patriotic songs such as “Over There” as loudly and beautifully as possible, hoping a Hollywood talent scout might be hiding in the bushes and vault them to instant fame. When her family bought a piano, Ruth quickly mastered an impressive repertoire, playing Paderewski’s minuet on a local radio show at age 14. Her skill led her to play for many Methodist, Universalist, and LDS congregations throughout her life. In her last years at Spring Gardens in Mapleton, Utah she was famous for her singing and dancing, always ready to brighten the days of those around her.

Besides her love of music, Ruth adored travel, a passion that lasted her entire life. Within weeks of securing her license at age 17, she took her mother and cousin Chuckie Meeds on a week-long whirlwind tour of New England. In her words, “There’s nothing like seeing a tiny bit of six states.” To no one’s surprise her first major purchase was a 1952 Chevrolet Convertible with Power Glide (purchase price: $1,950), which she christened “Green Baby.” Her passion for travel culminated in visits to all 50 states and 36 countries.

Ruth graduated from Syracuse Central High School in 1950. From 1950-1958, she held various secretarial positions at General Electric and joined The Electronettes, a GE women’s organization where she once performed “Claire de Lune” at a talent show. “I was asked if I could speed it up, [but] I played it as it should be played. I wasn’t about to incur the wrath of Claude De-bussy in the afterlife.”

In 1955 Ruth began attending the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where she met “a handsome young man” named John Phillip Biggs. After many movie dates, ice skating adventures, and church parties, they were married on July 3, 1958, and later sealed in the Logan, Utah Temple. Soon after, they moved to Trinidad, a Caribbean island near Venezuela where John worked at a naval base for General Electric. This 20-month assignment was a huge adventure for them both, a highlight being the birth of their first child, Johnny.

After purchasing a new home in DeWitt, New York, they settled into family life, eventually having a total of three children: Johnny, Jacqui, and Mark. The next years were filled with all the interests and activities of a household of inquisitive and creative people - rock bands, piano, guitar, drum and flute lessons, go-cart building, electronics, scouting, family bike rides, and summer trips to such places as Hershey, PA, Washington DC, the Adirondacks, Amish Country, Niagara Falls, Toronto, and many other places that Ruth had her eye on. Every two years they made the trek to Utah in a VW camper named Bill, each time zigzagging across the country to add new states to Ruth’s list. It was during these years that Johnny gave her the nickname “Bobe,” later expanding it to “Bobee.”

In 1974, Ruth began working part time at Agway as a secretary and events planner, “just for fun.” Her reliability quickly captured the attention of the company’s CEO, who began requesting her help on various projects. At one point the personnel office tried to substitute someone other than Ruth. The CEO responded, “If Ruth leaves, I’m closing down.” The CEO got his way, and Ruth enjoyed a private desk and spectacular views from the top floor executive suite. Ruth always dictated the hours she would work, and Agway learned to work around her.

All three children remember Ruth’s unflagging encouragement in all they did. She was always fun-loving, ready to jitterbug her way into the room during a rock band practice or initiate a car race home from church, calling herself “Rocket Ruth.” She kept everyone busy with birthday parties and Christmas traditions, even silent film nights featuring Laurel and Hardy. Particularly memorable were blindfolded mystery trips to Friendly’s Ice Cream for a coveted “Jim Dandy”—the largest ice cream sundae on the menu.

During their years in DeWitt, Ruth had a hobby of taking classes of every stripe —“cake decorating, candle making, advanced knitting, crewel, wallpaper hanging, genealogy, microwave cooking, 30-meals-in-a-day cooking, French cooking, Chinese Cooking I and II, music appreciation, calligraphy, tole painting and quilting.” In her words, “much of what I learned I promptly forgot as I moved on to the next class.” This isn’t entirely true, as her many beautiful sweaters and quilts are still treasured by her children, as well as the memories of magnificent egg rolls, chicken crepes and guitar birthday cakes.

In the 1990’s, Ruth upped her learning game and began attending Onondaga Community College, where she was often a teacher’s pet, taking copious notes and excelling on tests. She especially enjoyed courses in Russian history and Criminal Justice. When a required Algebra class became frustrating, she came up with the perfect study solution: in the evenings she would leave difficult algebra problems on the kitchen counter, then wake up to the solved problems in John’s neat, engineer handwriting in the morning. In 1998, Ruth was thrilled to finally call herself a “college graduate,” earning an Associate Degree in Humanities (with high honors) in 1993.

In 1986, when her father, Willis Russell, died, Ruth insisted that her mother move in with her and John. And so Elizabeth Russell moved into Jacqui’s old room. For the next 17 years, Ruth and Betty enjoyed one another’s company as they went grocery shopping and on many outings together. When Ruth and John moved to Utah in 1999, Elizabeth came along with them. And all three did an excellent job of grand parenting their nine grandchildren, all of whom lived within driving distance.

The grandchildren fondly remember the elaborate sleepovers Ruth planned for them - stocking up on their favorite cereals, candies and ice cream. She even recorded their favorite TV shows for them to watch when they came over. Ruth and John attended all the music recitals, Nut-cracker performances, sports events and graduations that they could. As a highlight, every Christmas they gave generous gifts, hoping to make the day special for each grandchild.

Ruth’s willingness to be involved with her grandchildren extended to her offering to help with their activities, at even a moment’s notice. She enjoyed pretending that she had a non-profit business which she named “Bobee on Call.”

Throughout her life, Ruth put her organizational skills and enthusiasm for people to work by serving in many voluntary capacities. While living in Utah, she held several positions of responsibility in the Utah County Republican Women and Women’s Legislative Council of Utah. She also enjoyed serving as a Literacy Volunteer and treasured the experience of helping a newly arrived young woman from China learn to speak and read in English. They quickly became friends and stayed in touch for many years.

In the LDS church she served as President of the Relief Society, Young Women’s, and Primary. She was also often the church organist and choir pianist, as well as music director. Her “all-time favorite” church position was her last, co-librarian with her husband John. In all of these endeavors, Ruth made friends everywhere she went. To know Ruth was to love her for her wit-ty, teasing, fun-loving personality as well as her steadfast friendship.

Ruth is survived by her three children: Johnny (Michele) Biggs, Jacqui (Lance) Larsen and Mark (Jewelee) Biggs, as well as nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She was pre-ceded in death by her parents (Willis and Elizabeth Russell), brother (Carl Russell) and devoted husband of 65 years (John Biggs).

At the graveside gathering at Evergreen Cemetery on September 17, 2025, Ruth’s children and grandchildren gathered to honor and remember their deeply loved mother and grandmother.

She will be greatly missed, but her vibrant legacy of loving life, family and friends will live on in all who knew and loved her.

Condolences may be expressed to the family on this page.