Ruth Belden

Ruth Belden lived a full life over an American century - growing up barefoot on a farm, married during the Great Depression, seeing a husband and a son off to war and safely home again. She was a longtime resident of Carlsbad who could still remember the days before air-conditioning, and had a sly sense of humor and a heart as sweet as her southern accent. Mabel Ruth Center was born October 6, 1916 in Hazel Green, Kentucky to Juda and Porter Center, where she played with her three sisters and two brothers in the rolling hills of her family farm. After graduating from Hazel Green Academy, she visited her sister Mildred in West Frankfort, Illinois, where she met James William "Bill" Belden. Ruth and Bill were married in Morganfield, Kentucky in July 1938. It was a simple ceremony at the parsonage, Ruth wore a blue dress and her sister baked a cake. They settled in Illinois and welcomed son James William "Jim" Belden, Jr. in 1941. After World War II began, Bill served in the Navy in the Pacific theater as an engineman. Son Charles Robert "Bob" Belden was born after the war in 1947. Once he returned home, Bill found work as a miner in West Frankfort's Orient coal mine. After an explosion closed the mine, he traveled to Carlsbad, New Mexico to work for the U.S. Potash mine. Ruth packed up the boys and the dog and drove four days over country highways (in the days before the interstate) to their brand-new home on Pinon Lane, where they would live for 50 years. They became founding members of Central Christian Church in Carlsbad. Ruth volunteered in the boys' activities and later worked at the downtown J.C. Penney. Son Jim served in Vietnam and Korea as a Tech Sergeant in the Air Force while Bob moved to Seattle and worked for the Boeing Company. Memories of Ruth are often connected to food - homemade tacos, buttermilk pancakes, sun tea, fresh pecans from the yard. She had a famous sweet tooth ("they never did pull that one"), and she loved to make pies and divinity puffs. Friday nights were spent with friends playing pinochle and Sundays were spent at church. During retirement, Ruth enjoyed visits from her grandchildren, playing golf, and volunteering more than 5,000 hours for the Hospital Auxiliary. Husband Bill passed away in 1992, and she moved to Fort Worth to live with her son Jim and his family in 2008. After Jim died in 2014, she was cared for at Anchor Way Senior Care Home. Even as her memories began to fade, her eyes would still sparkle when she had a visitor, and her smile had the same sly sweetness. Ruth passed away peacefully on Christmas Day, just a few weeks after her 100th birthday. A celebration of her life will be held on Thursday, January 12 at 10:00 a.m. at Denton-Wood Funeral Home Chapel in Carlsbad. Interment will follow in Sunset Gardens Memorial Park, Carlsbad, NM. She is survived by her son Bob and his wife Danelle, and daughter-in-law Maureen Belden. She will be remembered as beloved "Gram Gram" to grandchildren Heidi and Scott Peiper, Russell and Tanya Belden, Robert Belden, Kati Belden and great-grandchildren Ian, Zach and Lauren. Condolences may be expressed at dentonwood.com