Pillars of the Foundation
Ruby Jeanette Gay Whittey
Founder of St. Alexius Auxiliary
Mrs. Ruby Jeanette Gay Whittey was born in Plymouth, Indiana, January 22, 1886. She married Charles B. Whittey in Plymouth on November 26, 1908. Prioro t her marriage, she taught in country schools and was a proofreader for a large book printing company in Chicago.
Mrs. Whittey was a woman born years ahead of her time. The Whittey’s seven children, born in a span of nine years, were well aware of “Women’s Lib” long before the expression was coined or turned into a fashionable women’s movement. She had three sons and four daughters, with one son dying in infancy.
She moved to Bismarck from Indiana with her husband and two children in 1913. After arriving in Bismarck, she substitute taught in the Bismarck school system for many years, and also was a society editor for the Bismarck Tribune.
Some of her happiest years were those spent at St. Alexius where she volunteered her services while in her late sixties and early seventies. She was a close friend of Sister Andriette’s (then the administrator at the hospital). It was with Sister’s urging that she formed the St. Alexius Women’s Auxiliary.
At the early Women’s Auxiliary meetings, the ladies wrapped bandages that had been laundered at the hospital and put them in sterilizer prior to patient use. The Auxiliary established the gift cart for the patients; going room to room with many beautiful handmade articles and toiletries. They also made items for their annual fund-raising sale, from which the proceeds went for needed articles for use in the hospital.
Mrs. Whittey was later hired by the hospital as a public relations person and assistant to Sister Andriette. It was with the help of the Auxiliary that she accomplished the project of making pleated draperies for all the patient rooms of the then new north wing. She planned room colors, chose the bedspreads and picked out different coordinating floral drapery materials for the windows. She also supervised the installation of the draperies and completion of the rooms. Prior to that time all the hospital rooms had the same drab look. Bringing color into the lives of the patients for a happier and faster recover was, to Mrs. Whittey, a very special achievement of which she was exceptionally proud.
It was also during this period that she found time to travel to various hospitals around the state, assisting them in organizing their hospital auxiliaries. Mrs. Whittey also visited other states; representing St. Alexius and the hospital auxiliary at various state conventions. She was elected first president of the state auxiliary.
Mrs. Whittey and her husband made their winter home in Ft. Meyers, Florida for many years. After her husband’s death, she lived with her daughter and son-in-law in Missouri where she died in 1979 at the age of 93.