Ruth Reichenberg
Biography
Received a prank call from Diana and Barb claiming Carolyn was suspected of a crime; suspected the callers, who were caught. A neighbor remembered chasing a headless chicken around her yard. Ruth and John Reichenberg and their two children were neighbors and very good friends of the narrator's family. Described as having spindly legs, a huge bosom, big torso, big widely-spaced protruding front teeth, and an overly-loud, breathless, boisterous voice.
Timeline
During childhood
A prank call to Ruth Reichenberg
Diana and Barb falsely told Ruth that Carolyn was suspected of a crime. Barb typed in the background; the sisters were eventually caught.
Diana's Chapter
Stories mentioning Ruth
- Seven Children, Shared Adventures, and Sisterly MischiefDiana remembers Iris cutting hair, Bernie rescuing her from punishment and playing records, and Bob driving four younger sisters to school and building an igloo with Billy Johnson. Carol served as a second mother, led 4-H meetings, and accompanied Diana to the State Fair. Dee was a card-playing companion and peacekeeper. Diana and Barb shared sleeping space, television suppers, prank calls, forbidden games, and adventures with Carol’s car. Family outings included the drive-in, ice cream, carnival rides, and drag races.
- Sunday Chicken and Cakes from ScratchThe narrator recalls Mom's weekly fried chicken dinners, believing the fresh chickens came from their own chicken house. Daddy dipped the slaughtered chickens in hot water to ease plucking. Ruth Reichenberg's pursuit of a headless chicken frightened the children and became a humorous memory. Mom browned flour-seasoned chicken in a cast-iron skillet before baking it in a blue roaster, serving it with potatoes, gravy, rolls, garden vegetables, and homemade dessert. Carol took charge of desserts when old enough. Everyone ate the same meal at assigned places and on time. Alice Atchison shared memories of coffee-cup measurements and testing oven heat with her hand; the narrator wonders whether Mom used such methods but remembers her insistence on exact measurements except for pie dough.
- Sharing Water and Learning to Save Every DropCarol recalls a family well that repeatedly went dry. Their water tasted and smelled good, unlike some neighbors' sulfurous water. Mom hauled water from Reichenberg’s well for laundry. Ruth and John Reichenberg and their children, Kent and Carolyn, were close friends and neighbors. Daddy fitted a wagon with a five-hundred-gallon tank he had made and fetched water from town two or three times a week to replenish the family's and neighbors' wells. These shortages taught Carol lasting water-conservation habits.
Referenced in
Family corrections
Notes sent in by the family and approved on review. They sit alongside the original record — the book's wording is never changed.
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