Anna Laura "Ruby" (Hayden) Robidoux
Marriages
Louis William "Mike" Robidoux - April 21, 1924
at Goodland, Kansas.
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 6B - February 10, 1999
Vail Daily - February 17, 1999
CHARISMATIC ROBIDOUX LEAVES LEGACY OF GOODWILL, by Austin RICHARDSON.
Anna Laura "Ruby" ROBIDOUX was a fixture of Gypsum's community landscape for over 60 years. Living more than 101 years, friends and relatives remember her outgoing nature and her love of gardening.
"She was a very active and extroverted person," Steve McDONALD, Robidoux's grandson, said. "She really enjoyed having people over to visit."
Born in Sherman County, Kansas, and the daughter of homesteaders migrating west in the late 1800's, ROBIDOUX graduated from Sherman County High School in Goodland in 1917. In teaching at one-room schoolhouses for five years, she rode her horse, Major, to and from her classrooms before leaving the life of a teacher and heading to college in Salina, Kan.
ROBIDOUX attended Kansas Wesleyan College of Commerce and married husband Louis William "Mike" in 1924. The two operated a cattle ranch until 1937, when they moved to the Gypsum Valley.
ROBIDOUX was a waitress at Pierce's Cafe before taking a job in Judge William LUBY's office as clerk of the district court. Retiring from formal public service in 1970 at the age of 72, ROBIDOUX returned to her former job at the cafe, still gregarious in her demeanor.
After landing in Eagle County, ROBIDOUX was instrumental in implementing a school lunch program and did extensive volunteer work with the Red Cross, the Vail Sale, the Roaring Fork Hospice and the American Cancer Society.
"The highlight of her week was going to the senior citizens center in Eagle and having lunch twice per week," McDONALD said. "She was a very sociable person.
In her later years, ROBIDOUX kept up with her love of agriculture, maintaining and harvesting a huge garden every year. ROBIDOUX also took care of a substantial flower plot as well. McDONALD said his grandmother "grew everything--corn, peas, beans. She would try anything."
"We would always see her in her flower garden, all day long," Pam SCHULTZ, mayor pro-tem of Gypsum, said.
Peg BURR knew ROBIDOUX very well. She read to her every Wednesday for more than five years.
"I never remember her saying an unkind word about anyone," BURR said. "She always had good things to say."
BURR said that ROBIDOUX would always talk about retiring, finally finding the time to really enjoy one of her main passions: reading.
"When she retired, her eyesight was so bad that she couldn't read very well," BURR said. "I knew that she loved to read, I started reading to her, and she really enjoyed it."
The material ROBIDOUX loved to have read to her was a series of books by radio personality Paul HARVEY. "The Rest of the Story" books, according to Burr, were her favorites.
"She had the greatest time trying to figure out who the person was from the story I had just read," BURR said. "When I suggested that I read some different books, say, by Andy ROONEY, she would say, 'No, just keep reading those Paul HARVEY stories.'"
Replacing ROBIDOUX as district court clerk, BURR had known ROBIDOUX for more than 40 years, and the two were good friends.
"It really hit her hard, seeing her son pass away last March," BURR said. "She used to tell me about her father, who died shortly after reaching 100, telling me her time was near."
BURR related that ROBIDOUX never had a headache in her life and couldn't remember what a cold felt like,not being sick for so long.
"She was the healthiest little thing," BURR said. "She grew all her own vegetables and credited her longevity to eating fresh produce. Her son, Jim, used to fish all the time, so she ate a lot of fish as well."
"She will be missed," McDONALD said. "She really missed all of her old friends that lived up and down Valley Road in Gypsum. Most of them had either died or moved away."
Memorial services for ROBIDOUX were held on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Eagle. Memorial donations may be made to the American Red Cross, Roaring Fork Hospice or the American Cancer Society.
