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Submitted: 5/16/16 • Approved: 8/29/19 • Last Updated: 6/30/23 • R1140067-G1140067-S3
August 19, 1910 - September 3, 2011
Mother of Myrna - Vance - Julia
*Obituary
Ruth Allie Richardson Wingfield of Arlington, Texas, died Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 4:00 pm . Services will be held at Young's Chapel, Friday, September 9th at 11:00 am. Interment will follow at Arlington Memorial Park. Visitation will be held Thursday from 6:00-8:00 pm at Young's.
It's a big deal when anyone reaches 100 years of age. No wonder her 101st birthday guest list included Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck who joined Meals on Wheels to deliver Wingfield's two-layer chocolate birthday cake during an upbeat and festive celebration of her 101st birthday. "Wow, you look great for 101 years old," Cluck said to Wingfield. "I hear you're a fun loving person and you tell lots of good jokes."
Cluck joked with Wingfield about sports - she's a Cowboys fan and toured Cowboy Stadium on her 100th birthday in her power wheelchair. She also took in a Texas Ranger game at the Ballpark in Arlington.
Wingfield told jokes of her own, telling the Mayor that she used to about six-foot tall but "I've shrunk a bit since then."
Wingfield reminisced about her days as a professional basketball player. She competed in the first women's basketball league through the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) during the 1930s, playing center for the El Dorado Oilers out of Arkansas, a team considered to be the best women's basketball team of the era. The team placed third in the national tournament in 1935 in Wichita, Kansas. That trip was the first time she had been out of state, the first time she ever stayed in a hotel or ate in a restaurant. She and a friend rode in the rumble seat of a 1932 Ford. She was a good friend and competitor of the legendary Hazel Walker. Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman gave her an autographed basketball for her 100th birthday.
Asked the secret to her longevity, Wingfield said, "I never drank or smoke, just trained for basketball. Plus I was born on a farm. You learn early to work hard. So nothing really affects you after that."
Ruth was a founding member of the Wingfield Family Society formed in Ashland, Virginia in 1987. She went on the Society's first trip to England to visit historic Wingfield sites. She was a Worthy Matron of the Jackson Mississippi Chapter of the Eastern Star and a member of the Baptist Church. Ruth was a long time member of the Immanuel Baptist Church in El Dorado. She proudly lived independently until the day of her death.
Ruth was born August 19, 1910, to Augustus Tilman Richardson and Hattie Lougean Kennedy Richardson in Junction City, Arkansas. Siblings included Gertrude "Gertie" Isadora Richardson, James "Jim" Richardson, John Galbraith Richardson, Martha Teresa Richardson, Jesse Augustus Richardson, Corrie Hattie Richardson, Charlie Clark Richardson, Jay Fulton Richardson, and Claude Wilson Richardson. She resided in Three Creeks in her youth, then in Wyatt and El Dorado where her children attended school. Later she lived in Jackson, Mississippi, and in Arlington, Texas. She was first married to Marvin Morgan and later to Harrison Alexander Wingfield.
She is survived by her brother Claude Richardson of Haynesville, Louisiana; children Myrna Morgan Thornton of Forney, Texas; Vance Gray Wingfield of Fort Worth, Texas; and Julia Gatling of Allen Texas. Surviving grandchildren Catherine Pennington, Carol Halverson, Cynthia Nix, Gusts Taylor, Wendy Wingfield, Mark Wingfield, Laura Cavett, Alexa Caroline Haik, Paul Gatling, 10 great grandchildren and 2 great, great, grandchildren.
Pallbearers include Kevin Nix, Mark Halverson, Steve Pennington, Mark Wingfield, Paul Gatling, and John Cavett.
Contributed on 5/16/16 by debbraszymanski
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Record #: 1140067