Main Street icon is missed

by Marlo Benning
marlo@inhnews.com

Back when Verndale was a “booming metropolis”, as described by Don Beaver, his sister Ruth became a part of it by opening her own beauty shop.
The year was about 1940 when Ruth Beaver moved back to Verndale after completing beauty school in the Cities and getting some on the job experience at Lillian’s Beauty Shop in Brainerd.
Violet Johnson had a shop in town that was closing up, so Ruth bought her equipment. She then began beautifying the town’s women, setting up her shop in what was formerly the Verndale Hotel building, which was located by the Catholic church.
Ruth’s business settled in nicely with the five grocery stores, seven gas stations, creamery, lumber yard, two blacksmiths and two grain elevators that her little brother, Don, recalls making up the town’s business district at that time.
“You could just about get everything you needed here. And Saturday night was a big night. It was hard to find a parking spot. There would be a band playing, kids playing and women getting groceries,” recalled Don who was born and raised in the area and still lives on the outskirts of town.
Several years later, Ruth purchased some land on Farwell Street that would later accommodate her new location. The building that became Ruth’s Beauty Shop was actually a storage shed that was moved in from Wadena. It was later added onto for additional space in the very spot that it still sits today.
Ruth’s was a viable part of the Main Street in town for over six decades until this past fall when she became ill due to stomach cancer.
One of her loyal customers, Marge Goepferd of Bertha, drove the 13 or so miles nearly every week for over 60 years so Ruth could fix her hair. Her husband, Harold, who graduated with Ruth from Verndale, would also come along for a $5 haircut as needed.
Ruth always kept her prices low, Don said, which kept some customers making the drive from as far away as Brainerd and Ottertail.
Her sister-in-law, Bernice Beaver, said she isn’t sure of her prices because Ruth would insist on fixing her tresses free of charge.
Don recalled a time when Ruth talked him into getting a perm. He was a junior in high school at the time and it turned out with very tight curls.
“Boy did I get teased,” he said with a laugh, “It was a good thing that I was big. That was the talk of the school for awhile!”
Don said that he spent quite a bit of time at the shop during Ruth’s first years. When he was in high school, he would hang out there after school was out.
She had fun at the shop talking to the ladies. She could adapt to her customers, tell jokes or be “high society”, he said.
Marge knew Ruth in high school and had her as a bridesmaid in her wedding.
She worked for her at the shop until the rules changed and you had to have a license to work there.
She would help Ruth mainly by helping her make “spit curls” which were popular at that time. Two pins were used to keep them in place.
“I’d hand them to her,” Marge said.
“After I got married and moved to California, she said she couldn’t find someone to hand her the pins fast enough, so she did it herself,” Marge said with a giggle.
Ruth has been described by her customers and family as a private and very hardworking woman who was willing to bend over backwards for her customers. If someone needed a ride to her shop, she wouldn’t think twice about driving over to pick them up.
“Her customers were very important to her,” said Shirley Lunceford of Long Prairie who remained a customer herself even after moving away from Verndale in 1963.
She took very short vacations throughout her life with the exception of one week when she jetted off to Hawaii.
“She was very accommodating,” said long-time customer Delores Rentz who told of an early 6 a.m. customer and other frequent customers.
“One lady would come three times a week,” Delores noted.
Ruth would stay until seven or eight at night sometimes, Delores said.
“Any time you wanted, she’d be there,” said Delores.
“When you got a hair wash, you got a good one, sometimes two times. And if she got to talking, maybe three,” recalled Delores who was her customer for about 14 years.
The final time Ruth fixed her hair was at the end of last September when she began to have health issues due to the stomach cancer that eventually took her life on November 24, 2011. She lived to be 90 years old and worked up until just a few months before her death.
“I miss Ruth. She was just a wonderful little lady,” said Delores.
“We always had such good visits and reminisced about the old times,” recalled Marge.
Ruth could be seen many mornings having breakfast and coffee with her friends or playing games at Yesteryear’s Cafe, cheering at sporting events and helping with various functions at the United Methodist Church.
“When our kids were in sports, she never missed a game. And she was a big Minnesota Twins fan, too,” said Don.
Shirley, who was a close friend and customer of Ruth’s since 1950, said that Ruth would always have a board going so they could pick numbers for upcoming games.
She enjoyed doing crossword puzzles, was active in the Verndale Lioness and when she was younger, loved to ride horse and could fill her berry bucket faster than anyone else, Don recalled.
Her shop was always in tune with whatever holiday would fall next on the calendar; especially when it came to Christmas.
“At Christmas time it was just beautiful,” said Bernice.
Ruth never married, but did have plenty of family in the area. She lived out her years on her family’s home farm which is just south of town at the intersection of County Road 23 and the Todd Line Road.
Don and Bernice are unsure at this time what the future holds for her shop.
But, one thing is for sure, the independent, dedicated woman who occupied that space for so long will not easily be forgotten......

Photos:

Top: This photo is a black and white original. The date it was taken is unknown.

Bottom: Ruth’s Beauty Shop was open for business for about 70 years. Ruth went to great lengths for the women who frequented her business. She was very dedicated to her customers, friends and family have said. Ruth is standing at the right. Marge Goepferd is in the center of the women under the dryers.

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