Seventeenth Generation

307. Harold Ira ROOT (`~) was born on 15 November 1925 in Sparta, Sparta Township, Monroe County, WI.^{141,155,183,384}

From the Root Christmas Letter, 2006, "The Minneapolis Harold": "I was born Nov. 15, 1925 in St. Mary's Hospital in Sparta, Wisconsin. We moved to Coles Valley four months later. I was the 5th of a family of 6 kids. When I started school, Marita was in the eighth grade so there were five of us in the same school. Rosella Christiano was my 1st grade teacher.

My first year in high school, I walked to the road that went to Aney's and rode with Howard Carlson, Willis Birch, Wayne Jones and Bernice McComb in a 1928 Model A Ford with no heater. The second and third years, I stayed at Isensee's on Blackriver Street in Sparta and worked for my room and board. The last year, I stayed at home and car pooled with the Giraud girls and Jack Christiano and Art and rose Vian.

After about a month, Snooks Isensee broke his leg and called me to see if I would work there while going to school. I milked cows and cleaned barns and fed chickens and pigs before going to school at 8:15. It was a mile to school, which I ran most every day. I returned home after Christmas and finished the year car pooling, graduating in 1943." He appeared in the census in 1930 in Adrian Township, Monroe County, WI.¹⁹² He appeared in the census in 1940 in Adrian Township, Monroe County, WI.²²¹ Harold graduated in 1943 in Sparta, Sparta Township, Monroe County, WI.^232,384 from Sparta High School.

From the Root Christmas Letter, 2006, "The Minneapolis Harold": "World War II had started and a lot of my senior class went into the service before graduating. Norman enlisted, so I took his place working for Bill Roeske for the next three years. Thinking it was time to move on, I went to Montana to work in the harvest one summer and returned the next two years to work for Verl and Wayne Reed.

The draft board was looking at me and I was sure I was about to be drafted, so I enlisted in the Air Force on Nov. 18, 1949. A month after enlisting, I got a notice from the draft board to report for service. I attended basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, Texas. I came home for a 10-day leave enroute to Biloxi, Mississippi for tech school in airborne radar. The Korean War broke out about that time and our school was accelerated to the same program in half the time.

Upon completion, I was assigned to Walker AFB, Roswell, New Mexico, which was my home base during the rest of my enlistment. I was refused a furlough at that time as the unit I was assigned to was scheduled for temporary duty in England for four months. We left the 1st of February for jolly old England. After returning, I did normal maintenance on the radar of 15 aircraft with a crew of eight mechanics.

The next temporary duty was being assigned to a joint task force and sent to Kwajalien Island in the Pacific, seven degrees off of the equator. That was an island one mile long and 3/4 of a mile wide. I'm sure that was at low tide. Our purpose was to test the first hydrogen bomb. We were there for four months, living in six-man tents. We were 300 miles from the blast, but really felt the shock waves. Again, my duty was to maintain the radar on the planes.

I returned to Roswell on November 20th, 1952, and came home for my second leave. Deer season was starting the next day. In four days I went from 85 degree temperatures to below zero, the only hunter with a deep suntan. I completed my enlistment November 27th, 1953--four years to the day.

Jobs were scare at that time and I found Westinghouse was hiring, so I stopped in Kansas city on my way home from the service and took a job in the jet engine factory running engines in test cells. The pay was good but I didn't care for Kansas City. After nine months there, I took some time off and went to Minneapolis, looking for work. I took a job at Engineering Research Associates.

To my surprise, a service friend, Oscar Johnson, started work at the same place the same day. He and I and another service friend got an apartment together. They were going with two girls from a girl's club. They asked me to go along to a movie one night and I said I wouldn't as they had dates. They set me up with a blind date. That was my first date with Ruth. All of us married the girls we were with. I was the first."

. After 1989 he was an amateur photographer and genealogist in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN.^124,385

(Gary Griggs and Harold had a very interesting conversation in November 2000 about Harold's memories of the Root Family. At one time, Harold had the Root Family Bible and had worked on the family genealogy. He has since passed the Bible to his nephew, Dr. Thomas Root.) He died on 12 May 2020 at the age of 94 in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN.³⁸⁶

Obituary Notes: "Root, Harold age 94 longtime resident of St. Anthony Village, passed away suddenly and peacefully on May 12, 2020. Preceded in death by wife, Ruth. Survived by children, Douglas (Michele Wallace), Kenneth, Diane (John) Tworoski, Howard (Beth Heinemann), and Nancy (Jeff) Lopez; 7 grandchildren; also many nieces, nephews and friends. Member of Nativity Lutheran Church. A memorial service will be held at a later date."

Note from his daughter, Nancy, regarding his death: "Yesterday, May 12th, Harold got up early as he usually does.  He called me at 6:30 a.m. to tell me that he was feeling better and that he had gotten out of bed, dressed, and to the bathroom without assistance and without too much pain.  He called again just before 8 a.m. to say that he was having trouble with the wheel locks on his wheelchair, but that he had gotten into his rocking chair and his back was feeling better. 

I listened as his breakfast was delivered and he had French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon,toast, coffee, and cranberry juice.  The staff person said he would mention the wheelchair problem to the maintenance staff.  At about 9:30 the nursing director called to say that Harold had been found unresponsive with no pulse and no heartbeat.  I got to his apartment quickly and the EMTs had been working to revive Harold for about 20 minutes.  Just after 10 a.m. they stopped trying (after calling a doctor and with my agreement) and Harold died.

There will be a memorial service for Harold in the future when travel and large gatherings are safer, possibly sometime between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.  I'll certainly share details with all of you when they are available.  I will also pass along the obituary which may be printed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Sunday. 

I hope you remember that Harold cherished every one of his nieces and nephews and their families.  You were important to him and he hoped for the best for each of you.

Fond Regards,
Doug Root  
 

From his daughter Nancy's Facebook page: "Sharing some sad news. My dad passed away this week. He was 94 years old was living independently in a retirement home in Minneapolis. He was looking forward to his 95th birthday in November.

Alicia and I visited him in early March when his retirement home had just instituted a mandatory “health questionnaire” for anyone visiting the building. A few weeks later, the building implemented a lockdown, confining residents to their rooms and delivering meals to them. Since my dad could not see friends at mealtimes and could not have visitors, I started to call him more frequently,calling him every evening after dinner.

We had many long and rambling conversations over the past 6 weeks as I kept him company to pass the hours until bedtime. During those conversations, I was reminded of the values my dad held dear and passed along to his children: to cherish your family, to work hard and do things well, and to treat everyone with respect, kindness, and dignity.

On Tuesday morning, my dad called my brother to let him know that he was feeling well and had enjoyed breakfast, but had a problem with the brakes on his wheelchair. About an hour later, my brother received a call from the retirement home letting him know that my dad’s heart had stopped. Just that quick, and he was gone.

We will hold a memorial service for my dad later this summer or fall when friends, neighbors, nieces, nephews, children, and grandchildren can gather together to remember him and celebrate his life. He was greatly loved and will be deeply missed.

Give your loved ones an extra hug. And either call your dad today if you can, or say a prayer of thankfulness for your dad if that's the better way to reach him now."

Harold Ira ROOT (`~) and Ruth Evelyn OTTO were married on 15 January 1955 in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN.^141,375 at Central Lutheran Church.

From the Root Christmas Letter, 2006, "The Minneapolis Harold": "We moved into an apartment on the third floor of an old mansion with seven fireplaces. We had a three-room apartment on the third floor. In October 1956, we moved into our first house on McKinley Street. I had changed jobs and was working at Honeywell in the space program, Project Mercury. It was close by, so that worked out fine.

With the loss of a spacecraft and the bad economy, the space program was cut and Honeywell wanted to send me to a plant on the other side of town at a lesser-paying job. I took a temporary leave and went to work at Control Data. After many different names, but the same people, I retired in 1989.

With four kids in six years, the money was close so I went to the University of Minnesota nights on the GI Bill to supplement our income. With overtime required, it was hard keeping up in school. After 18 months of half-time school, I gave up on getting through. Later in 1966, needing the extra room, we built our house and moved in. That was a good move, getting us into the St. Anthony school district, which proved to be an excellent school." Ruth Evelyn OTTO, daughter of Henry OTTO and Viola MUELLER, was born on 20 October 1929 in Gaylord, Sibley County, MN.³⁸⁷ From "The Life Story of Ruth Root," written by Harold Root, December 2012: "Ruth was born in Gaylord Minnesota on October 20th 1929. She came into the world with the crash of the '29 depression. She was the proud 4th child of Henry (Casey) Otto and Viola Mueller Otto. She had one brother and three sisters. As a little 2 year old she had curly hair and she hated to have her mother comb it. One day while combing it her mother told her to sit still. After more wiggling her mother said, "If you don't sit still, I will cut your curls all off." After her mother was done combing Ruth's hair, Ruth went in another room and found a pair of shears and gave herself her first haircut. Ruth's mother saved those curls and Doug (her oldest son) still has them.

Ruth was baptized in St Paul's Lutheran Church in Gaylord. She was confirmed in the same church. She attended Gaylord elementary school and Gaylord High School graduating in 1947. While in high school she got a job as a telephone operator nights. She slept at the telephone office with headsets on and connected the few calls that came in. She worked three nights a week.

Because she was working and getting paid, she had money to spend. Ruth and her younger sister Janet decided they would like to have a horse, so they rented a shed and bought a horse. They soon discovered their Saturdays were filled doing the chores that go with horse ownership. Buying and hauling hay and cleaning the shed. It did improve the gardens for the neighbors that lived close to the shed they rented.

Ruth's dad decided Ruth was spending her money rather than saving some so he had her buy 2 shares of AT&T telephone stock by taking the money out of her pay check weekly. After we were married, I talked her into putting the quarterly dividend check into a stock purchasing plan. It was a good learning process for both of us. It was always her money.

Ruth continued working at the telephone company after graduating from high school as a full time job. Wanting to get away from home she transferred to the telephone company in Minneapolis and got a room at the Evangeline Club. She joined a hostel group that did biking and in the summer of 1952 she went for a bike tour in Europe with them. They loaded their bikes on a ship in New York and sailed to Europe. Ruth discovered she was not a very good sailor and was sea sick both going and returning.

When she returned, she decided she wanted a job other than a telephone operator so she took an office job for Lutheran Brotherhood in Minneapolis and got a room at the Claire Dora Club, a girls dorm.

I had served my 4 years in the Air Force and had taken a job in Kansas City. I had worked there one year and decided I didn't like Kansas City so I took a few days vacation and came up to St Paul and got a job here. I had two service friends that were working here so we got an apartment together. They were going with two girls that were living in the same girls club that Ruth was at and they were friends. After a couple weeks they asked me to go to a movie with them. I refused knowing they had dates. They informed me that was taken care of. That was our first date. Oscar Johnson; the guy that arranged our date still lives here in the Twin Cities and we see each other a few times a year.

Ruth and I dated quite often and after two months I asked her to marry me and we were engaged. Our living conditions were not the best so we decided to get married right away and get our own place. We moved into a third floor apartment in a big house in South Minneapolis. We were married on January 15th 1955, four months after we met. Ruth had been going to Central Lutheran Church and taught Sunday school there. It is a big church in downtown Minneapolis. We were married there with Dr. Hjortland officiating. He could preach a sermon and you would think he was looking in your back door all week. I got to know him quite well and once asked him how he fit the sermon into everyone's life. He said you only preach the basics and let the people fit it into their life.

That November, Doug was born. On the way home from the hospital Ruth said it was the happiest day of her life. She loved little babies and she had her own little baby to take care of. We lived in that apartment for 21 months and then bought our first house in Northeast Minneapolis. We lived in that house until we outgrew it 10 years later. Our family had grown to 6 of us. We looked for a house for some time and decided we wanted to live in St Anthony Village. We had been living just one block outside of St Anthony Village and wanted our kids to attend the St. Anthony schools.

Since there were no houses available at a price we could afford, we bought a lot and had a house built. It was one of the best decisions we made in our life. Ruth was happy to be a stay-at-home mom and I was happy to have her be the best baby sitter available. We joined Nativity Lutheran Church and Ruth joined the quilting group and taught Sunday school along with other activities.

Ruth's folks bought a lot on Deer Lake in Northern Minnesota near Deer River and in 1954 built a cabin there. Ruth spent her vacation helping her Dad build it along with fishing with him. She loved to fish for walleye and usually got the biggest one. I got in on finishing the cabin in 1955. Ruth loved to go to the cabin. We picked lots of blueberries and wild raspberries. After Ruth's Dad passed away Ruth would go up to the cabin with her mother. I would come up over the week-end.

Ruth was active as a volunteer in the school. She even took the school patrol to a Twins baseball game as a treat for serving on that job. I couldn't believe they talked her into it as she didn't care for baseball. Ruth attended a lot of parades because the St Anthony marching band was in a lot of them and all the kids played instruments in the band.

Ruth loved to travel, and some of Ruth's best trips were the one we went on with our church group to Branson, Missouri, and the one we took to Yellowstone Park when the kids were small. We went on a tour of the Hawaiian Islands for our 25th wedding anniversary, and three months later Doug and Michele moved there to teach. Then, when it got cold, we thought that was the place to go. Later, Ruth traveled again to the Hawaiian Islands, this time with June and Ruth Anne. She really wanted to do that trip again with her sister-in-laws but never did.

Ruth was a good seamstress and made a lot of her own clothes and some for the kids. She made her wedding dress. She bought her own sewing machine while in high school. Her mother was a good seamstress and taught her daughters to sew. She enjoyed doing fancy work, needle point and cross stitch and other sewing and some knitting.

When in high school Ruth had to prepare an evening meal every week or ten days. She was a good cook. She is remembered in the family for her apple pies. Ruth liked to swim and took the Red Cross life saving course, but a couple days before the test she had to have her appendix removed, so she never took the test or got her certification.

Ruth first love was little babies. The littler they were, the better she liked them. She had been known to wake up little babies so she could hold them and if there was a rocking chair in the area she would rock them.

Douglas, Kenneth, Diane and Howard all went to Thomas Lowery School while we lived at 2929 McKinley Street in Northeast Minneapolis. That was the same school June attended when she was growing up. Ruth made sure the kids had their homework done every day and pushed them to get good grades. She had her flash cards for practice in arithmetic. She was a volunteer teacher's aide in some classes in St Anthony School.

She did a great job raising our family while I was busy working. She attended all the activities the kids were involved in. Our kids all attended the University of Minnesota as undergraduates. Doug, Howard, and Nancy all went on to post graduate school. Doug got his PhD degree from the U of Arizona in chemistry, Howard got a law degree from the U of Minnesota law school, and Nancy got a law degree from Georgetown law school in Washington D.C.

Ruth's health started failing as the years went by. She developed a heart condition that couldn't be treated. She had trouble navigating the steps in our three story house, so in the spring of 2008 we sold our house and moved to Rose Pointe Seniors apartments, an independent living complex.

She passed away here on August 20, 2008. A memorial service was held on August 26th at Nativity Lutheran Church honoring her life. She was a great person, citizen, wife and most of all a truly great MOTHER."

She appeared in the census in 1940 in Gaylord, Sibley County, MN.³⁸² She died of heart failure on 14 August 2008 at the age of 78 in St. Paul, Ramsey County, MN.^93,387,388 Obituary Notes: "Root, Ruth E. age 78, of St. Anthony Village. Member of Nativity Lutheran Church and Lutheran Social Services. Survived by husband, Harold; children, Douglas (Michele) Root, Kenneth Root, Diane (John) Tworoski, Howard (Beth) Root, and Nancy (Jeff) Lopez; 7 grandchildren; sisters, Violet Otto, Marion Anderson and Janet Wieman; also many nieces, nephews and friends. Memorial service Wednesday 11 AM, Nativity Lutheran Church, 3312 Silver Lake Rd., St. Anthony, with visitation at church one hour prior to service. Washburn-McReavy Northeast Chapel."

Harold Ira ROOT (`~) and Ruth Evelyn OTTO had the following children: