Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Stephens Retires As Seamstress

A fixture in downtown Gurdon is no longer there, and will be sorely missed.

Ruth Stephens retired as seamstress from Austin's Variety Store as of Dec. 31, 1997, after spending 12 years mending clothes and doing alterations for the people of Gurdon.

This, however, isn't the first time she's been retired. Stephens worked at Munsingwear in Arkadelphia for 16 years until the plant closed. When it did, she "retired" for a while before going to work at Austin's.

Munsingwear went overseas and Stephens came home to Gurdon.

But moving is nothing new for her. She and her husband, Lamont, married after graduating from Gurdon High School. She followed him during his time in the service after World War II and on the variety of jobs he held.

Lamont worked with his father building sawmills for a living. This saw the Stephens family move to Colorado, Texas and Louisiana while their three children, two girls and a boy, were young.

When the children were school aged, though, Ruth stayed home while Lamont took a job with the railroad, working there until it shut down. After that, he worked at a service station for a while, before joining Arkla Gas Co. and retiring from them.

"We managed to stay in Gurdon pretty well," she said.

Children, however, have a way of growing up and leaving the nest. When the Stephens children went their separate ways to start lives of their own, Ruth went to Arkadelphia and spent 16 years with Munsingwear where she made lingerie.

"Sewing has always been my love and still is," she said. "When I was little, my granny would piece quilts and I would play with the scraps."

These early introductions to sewing stayed with her all her life.

Though retired, Stephens plans on continuing to sew, but only for her family. She will do no sewing for the public any longer.

"I'll be sewing for pleasure now," she said. "I'm putting the finishing touches on a quilt for a great-grandchild. I'll still be doing a lot of sewing."

Stephens will also be doing quite a bit of crocheting as she has four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren with two more on the way. "Sewing relaxes me," she said.

Sewing won't be the only thing Stephens does during her retirement. She also plans on raising a little garden and trying to grow tomatoes, okra and string beans. She will also try her hand at raising unusual plants and herbs.

The real challenge, she said, will be trying to grow roses. The climate, however, makes it difficult to get these favored flowers to grow.

Stephens will also be spending more time with her husband, who suffers from arthritis. "He needs more of my time," she said.

Other plans include attending First Baptist Church more often.

Stephens said Austin Capps was a wonderful boss and has been a pleasure to work for these past 12 years.

BUILDING BRIDGES Crews with the Arkansas State Transportation and Highway Department have been working to "straighten out" Sticky Road, or Highway 182. Part of the construction includes building a new bridge below Lowe Field at Airport Road. However, construction is running behind schedule and it is not known when the project will be completed. The road work also affected the Gurdon Rural Water project, as water lines already in place had to be moved.