St. Clair County Obits

DR. RUTH SEEVERS

St. Clair County Library Files
Longtime physician, Dr. Ruth dead at 102
Osceola and St. Clair County residents are mourning the loss of a long-serving citizen.
Dr. Ruth Seevers, who was 102 only last month, died Sunday (October 13, 1985) at Truman Lake Manor Nursing Home in Lowry City.
“Doc Ruth”, as many referred to her, was born Sept. 6, 1883 in Osceola and practiced medicine in the area from 1906 until she retired in 1977.
She was one of the county’s distinguished residents being the first woman to graduate from the University of Missouri School of Medicine in 1906.
Doc Ruth followed in the footsteps of her father, who had been a doctor in the Osceola area since 1882. She said in a 1975 interview that her father offered to pay for her medical education if she promised to complete her education before marrying.
She never married and graduated from the medical school in 1906 as president of her class. She returned to her home of Osceola and immediately began to practice using a horse and buggy to travel across St. Clair Counties and the surrounding.
She graduated from Osceola High School in 1902.
Doc Ruth devoted her lifetime of service to many a community organizations. She had been a member of the St. Clair County Library Board until she retired in May 1978.
She also served on the Sac-Osage Hospital Board and Osceola School Board.
She was a former member of the Osceola Cemetery Association, the St. Clair County Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Osceola Garden Club and the Sac-Osage and Springfield, MO Button clubs.
She was a member of the Osceola Presbyterian Church.
She was a former member of the Order of the Eastern Star in Osceola and was a member of the local chapter of Business and Professional Women.
She was commissioned a Missouri Squire in 1963.
She is survived by a nephew, Dr. John J. Sullivan, Osceola; a niece, Mrs. Eleanor Lightfoot Jones, Lamar, CO; her sister-in-law, Mrs. J. Glover Seevers, Lamar, CO; George Hampton, Osceola; great nieces and nephews.