- Date Of Birth: April 24, 1922
- Date Of Death: June 30, 2015
- State: Idaho
Ruth Arlene Quintieri, 93, was born on April 24, 1922 in Fall River, Kansas to Ancil G. Lawrence and Viola Mead Johnson. She was the fourth of six children. When Ruth was just 2 years old, the family moved to Idaho to look for farm land that wouldn’t blow away with the wind. They worked on a fruit farm at Sunny Slope Idaho over by Marsing.
After graduating from Caldwell High School, Ruth attended College of Idaho, joining the Ring Sorority. However, after the Pearl Harbor attack, Ruth and her sister-in-law Margaret Lawrence moved to Portland to work at the shipyards. Ruth was in her hay day! She told many wonderful humorous stories about these days – typical 18 year-old adventures! Ruth always said that they were the best years of her life!
After the war, Ruth came home briefly. She had been on her own too long to live with parental rules. She worked at many different jobs until she became a switchboard operator at Morrison-Knudsen. There, she met Gene Quintieri, who was finally able to convince her to marry him by dancing his way into her life at the Starlight Lounge. They married on September 7, 1957 in Winnemucca, Nevada at the Chapel of the Chimes in front of best friends Helen and Chris Domiani. The four continued on to honeymoon in Mexico for the next month – most of which was spent in the hospital as Gene insisted on eating a salad!
They returned and started their own family – adding daughter Kelli Hinatsu (Roger) and son Mike (Karen, of Alaska) to the mix of son Allen (June) and daughter JoAnne Wilmot.
She returned to work in 1968 at the Idaho Dept. of Transportation, rising to the title of Supervisor of Central Files. She retired when it became impossible to avoid “learning the computer”. She then volunteered at the Old Idaho Penitentiary – and has an award for the greatest number of volunteer hours worked.
In 1959, Gene and Ruth bought Meridian Bowling Lanes as a small 8 lane house. They built it up over the years until it was, at one time, the largest in the state. Bowling was their life. They enjoyed the business aspect, but loved the friends they made there, many of whom are still in their lives. Meridian Lanes is still in the family who are all proud of the legacy they have left for us.
Ruth was always ready to help anyone who needed a hand. Many young people have lived with Ruthie and benefited from her care.
She has 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandkids and one and a half great-great-grandkids. But she also has numerous other young people who call her grandma.
