Ruth King honored by Rangely Library

RANGELY I Ruth King had a surprise homecoming this week.
King was honored with a dedication reception Tuesday at the Rangely Regional Library, which was planned without her knowledge.
“She just thought she was rolling up to Rangely for a visit,” Amorette Hawkins, director of the Rangely Library, said of King, a former longtime Rangely resident.
“She is probably one of the greatest icons in Rangely,” Hawkins said. “The (library) board wanted to do something for her that wasn’t just a plaque on the wall. They decided to dedicate the outside reading area to her.”
King moved to Grand Junction a few years ago, but she and her late husband J.D. came to Rangely in 1946.
“Ruth was a nurse here for over 50 years,” said King’s former neighbor Jeanne Smith, who spoke at Tuesday’s dedication. “For some, it’s just a job, but for her, (nursing) was a career or a passion. She would not just take care of people at the hospital, but she spent a lot of time with people who were terminally ill in their homes. She was always concerned with what was happening with other people.”
King served on the library’s board of directors for a dozen years or so.
“She was just a really caring person,” Hawkins said.
It’s fitting for the library to honor King, her longtime friend and neighbor Smith said.
“She loved the library,” said Smith, herself a former library board member.