Anna Augusta (Brunhoeber) Rucker (1896 - 1958)

Born 11 Feb 1896 in Murdock, Cass County, Nebraska

Ancestors

Wife of Avery John Rucker — married 10 May 1930 in Kansas, United States

Died 2 May 1958 at age 62 in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Laurie Hughes [send private message]

Anna (Brunhoeber) Rucker has German Roots.

Biography

As told by Martha Hackett, 1985: "We were just there in Oklahoma after coming in the covered wagon. This was a new house. The outhouse was quite a ways out. It didn't have the door on hinges yet. We had to set it back and forth...Anna said "Come on and go with me." So I went there with her. As I stood by the door waiting for her, I saw that Thing coming around. I said, "Oh! Anna! Look at that BIG spider!" When I said that, the Thing stopped. it TURNED AROUND. It STARTED TOWARDS THE OUTHOUSE. I screamed, "Anna! It's come'n this way!"...Anna jumped up and put her clothes on. I took the door and put it in front. Anna yelled, "COME ON! LET'S RUN FOR IT!!" And we ran. We ran to the house. We were all excited. We said breathless, "There is a GREAT BIG SPIdER out there!" Papa said, "Well, I'll go out and see." "It went to the toilet!" We said. So he went out there with a hoe. When he returned he said it was just going down into the seat when he got there. But he killed it...I wasn't even school age --I can still remember that!...That tarantula was the first thing I could remember about Enid." [as told to Vicky Helmer]

Martha remembers Anna's death : "We were like twins [Martha & Anna]..we were best friends..." As Martha Hackett told this story, it came with great difficulty, as Martha still felt the permanence of the loss of this sister as if it happen]rd today...[Vicky Helmer] "I always said I'd never go up in one[airplane]. The first time I went in one was when Anna was so sick at the hospital.[colorectal cance She and I were like this [crossed over fingers]. I came home from quilting that day. I was ironing. Dad [husband Lee] was working in the hardware store. He'd come home at 4:00 and eat, then he'd have to go back to stay till 8:00 every night. We had had our dinner, he went back to work. When he got back to work, Western Union came with a telegram. I knew Anna was still in the hospital, she'd been there since Friday. Virgil kept us posted. Hed's said she was in a coma when they took her there. When the telegram came it said: MARTHA. GET THE FIRST FLIGHT YOU CAN AND COME TO PORTLAND. So I called up Dad [Lee] I told him. He said, I'll be right home and he came. It said they had a ticket at the Western Union. We went down there and picked it up. You see, they had the fare for me...The first flight out was the next morning at 8:00. I always said I'd never take any chances...But boy! i couldn't get on that plane soon enough...I was scared. they served a nice lunch. Everything was so quiet. You couldn't tell that the plane was moving. I said to myself, "Oh, my goodness. This thing quiet! I wonder what's happened Oh! We're way up here how could they work on it Oh, my goodness..." I slid over to the aisle. I looked up the aisle. I looked down the aisle. People were reading the paper; some were sitting there talking. I thought, "Nobody is worried about it but me. I guess it's alright." So I sat back... ...I got off and went in and looked around...and there sits Virgil and Gerturde...They said, "Welcome home! Would you like to go home first" I said, "I want to see Anna..." We went to the hospital. Virgil said, "I'll go in and see if everything alright to let you in." We stood in the hall waiting. They had her in intensive care. They said, "She hasn't come out of that coma since Friday." This must have been around Wednesday...we went in. ...I walked over to the bed and took her hand. She had her eyes shut. I said, "Anna, this is Martha." She said, "How are you" "Well Anna, I'm doing alright." But I says "How are you feeling" "Oh, I guess alright." She held onto my hand... Gertrude and I went every night...[the night she passed away] About midnight, Gertrude woke me up and said, "Martha! Get up here." She whispered, "Anna's passing away." I got up there. Gertrude said "We won't tell nobody. We don't want them to hook her up. she don't want to live." We just stood there and watched her. The covers were going slower and slower, till she was gone..." [as told to Vicky Helmer]

Sources

• Research of Vicky L Hackett Helmer including personal knowledge, family records, correspondence and interviews. Shared 30 Aug 2005.
• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 08 February 2019), memorial page for Anna Augusta Brunhoeber Rucker (11 Feb 1896–2 May 1958), Find A Grave Memorial no. 30376856, citing Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, Los Angeles County, California, USA ; Maintained by laura hughes (contributor 46960853) .
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3BL-9PW : accessed 10 February 2019), Anna Brunhulber in household of Henry Brunhulber, Mount Pleasant Precinct, Cass, Nebraska, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 7, sheet 2B, family 34, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,918.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2ZX-SJ7 : accessed 10 February 2019), Anna Brunhoeber in household of J H Brunhoeber, Wichita Ward 4, Sedgwick, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 133, sheet 4A, family 80, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 456; FHL microfilm 1,374,469.
• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFXM-848 : accessed 22 February 2019), Anna Brunhoeber in household of Amelia Brunhoeber, Wichita Ward 4, Sedgwick, Kansas, United States; citing ED 148, sheet 3B, line 87, family 74, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 550; FHL microfilm 1,820,550.
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X77D-TRD : accessed 17 February 2020), Anna M Brunhoeber in household of Amelia M Brunhoeber, Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 75, sheet 67A, line 4, family 1790, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 721; FHL microfilm 2,340,456.