Irma Ruth Bennett

IRMA RUTH (WOOD) BENNETT July 11, 1929 – March 31, 2016 Irma Ruth (Wood) Bennett, 86, passed away March 31, 2016, in Roswell. She was born to J.O. Wood and Ruth Estelle (Whitener) Wood on the family farm North of Broadview, NM, on July 11, 1929. Irma started school in Bellview, NM and graduated high school at Rosedale, NM. Irma attended Eastern New Mexico University attaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1951. While raising her family and teaching school she continued her education at New Mexico State University earning a Masters Degree in Education in 1982. Irma was very proud to have been raised on the family farm in Curry County. She always said that when her Dad moved from Texas to New Mexico his only requirement was that he homestead somewhere you couldn’t grow cotton. Irma talked with love of the days she and Lynn would catch the horse and ride the breaks gathering the cows before milking time. She talked of being afraid of the pigs, so when it was feeding time, Irma would look out the window and wait till the sows were at the bottom of the orchard. Then she would hurry out and pour out the feed before they could get to the pen and push her around. Sometimes it pays to be smarter than a pig. Irma loved her Mother and Dad and never tired of telling her children stories of their hard work and thrift in raising six children during the Great Depression. Irma loved being a teacher. She taught for a short time in Clovis before moving to Carrizozo, where she taught first grade. In 1970, she and her family moved to Alamogordo, where she taught at Holloman Air Force Base then at Oregon Elementary School where she stayed until she retired. She talked of the satisfaction she felt when she would start the kindergarten year with little boys and girls from Japan or Korea who couldn’t speak English and end the year with them not only speaking English but knowing their alphabet and numbers, reading and writing at grade level ready for first grade. She pursued her Masters Degree out of a desire to help those students who were falling through the cracks and to find the way to help each individual realize their potential and achieve it. She continued teaching into her 80’s by tutoring children who needed her special touch. Irma loved her yard and her garden. It was this way that she continued her family farming legacy. She would take her Granddaughters into the garden in spring to feel the soil and plant the vegetables and flowers. Then as the summer progressed she would take them outside to water and weed and pick the fruits of their labor. She loved nothing more than to make fresh salsa from her garden and eat it standing at the kitchen counter. Irma Ruth is survived by one son, Barney Wood (Woody) Wilson of Roswell; one daughter, Lois Ruth Wilson (Ray) Stephens of Hagerman; granddaughter, Nichole Rene Wilson of Denver, Co; grandson, Tyrell Quentin Wilson of Fromberg, MT; granddaughter, Ruth Ann Stephens of Las Cruces, NM; step-grandchildren: Taylen Rodriquez, Cassidy Rodriquez, and Donte McKellum; brothers: Horace A Wood of Tucumcari, NM; and Lynn C (Kathy) Wood of Aztec, NM; and many nieces and nephews; she loved you all. She is preceded in death by two sons, Robert Charles (Bob) Wilson and Mark Dennis Wilson; her parents: J.O. and Ruth Wood; step-mother, Ethel Wood; brother, Arvin B. Wood; sisters-in-law: Helen Wood and Anna Wood; sisters: Doris E. Wood and Ila C. Pardue. Irma Ruth asked that she be cremated and taken home to the farm. A memorial service will be held at Grady Methodist Church, Grady NM by Reverend Mary Sue Hull at 2:00 PM on Saturday, April 16, 2016. Obituary was lovingly written by the family.

Irma Ruth Bennett

July 11, 1929 - March 31, 2016