Ruth Plack Kingdon

Interview Date: 13 October 2022

Mrs. Kingdon was born Ruth Plack in 1928 and was interviewed just days shy of her 94th birthday. Ruth Plack was born to Walter and Stella Cox Plack and lived with them on a farm in rural Rosefield Township just one mile west of Kickapoo off Route 150.  In this interview Mrs. Kingdon shares her memories of living on a farm, attending Golden Knolls one room school and Brimfield High School, marrying her high school sweetheart, and raising her family on a farm in Brimfield. Mrs. Kingdon was a 1946 graduate of Brimfield High School, the school’s 50th year anniversary. Her husband Bud was a World War II veteran, and she shares with us her memories of the war’s impact on her life.

Introduction
Birth at the farm 2:12
Trinity Lutheran Church in Peoria 3:20
Joseph/Walter Plack farm 5:00
Growing up on the farm 6:17
Golden Knoll one room school: 10:12 Brimfield Schools 20:40
World War II impact: 28:40
Brimfield High School 50th anniversary 1896-1946: 32:15
Job in Peoria after BHS graduation 34:00
Bud Kingdon WW II Veteran: 37:05
Married 1947: 40:45
First home -apartment 45:10
Chuck Kingdon’s farm 45:50
Farmer wife’s life 48:05
Moved to Mildred & Bill Kingdon’s house (Bud’s parents) 51:35
Activities: 53:00
Conclusion 56:41 

Coal stove
Migrants
One room school
Route 150
Farm Life
Dairy Farmers
Golden Knoll
Dairy Farmer
Commercia National Bank
Hampshire Swine Registry
Brimfield High School
Brimfield High School 50th Anniversary
Silverleaf
Wagner’s Grocery
Wine Making
Ewalt’s
Parkside Cafe
Trinity Lutheran Church
World War II
Malaria

Interviewed by : Kim Claybaugh Hanks

Interview Format : Zoom Video with Slideshow Presentation

Total Time : 1:00:41

The interview is archived at the Brimfield Public Library District in Brimfield, Illinois.

The Brimfield Oral History Project is a long-term effort to record the stories of Brimfield’s past in the voices of those who remember and make these original sources available for generations to come. This collaboration is a partnership between the Brimfield Public Library District, the Brimfield Historical Society, and the Peoria County Genealogical Society.

Readers of interview transcripts, if available, should bear in mind that this is a transcript of the spoken word and that the interviewer, interviewee, and editors sought to preserve the interview as recorded. Brimfield Public Library District and project volunteers are not responsible for the factual accuracy of this interview, nor for the opinions expressed within.

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