Ruth E. Campbell Bunnell

June 5, 1919 – Feb. 4, 2023

Ruth E. Campbell Bunnell, age 103, died on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, in her apartment at Sugar Fork Crossing of Anderson, Ind.

She was born in her family home in Troy Township of Fountain County, Indiana, on June 5, 1919, to the late Andrew and Flo Smith Campbell.

She was married to Roy J. Bunnell on July 14, 1946, on the grounds of her parents’ home near Veedersburg, Ind.

She attended grade school in Stone Bluff, Indiana thru the eighth grade, and graduated from Veedersburg High School in 1937. Following graduation, she worked for family friends caring for young children, but eventually secured a position with the AAA group that supported farmers in Fountain County and surrounding counties. She talked about getting to watch the artists as they created the murals in the Fountain County Court House where the office was located.

After living in Chicago for a short time, she and Roy set up housekeeping near Alamo, Ind., but eventually started working as renters on a farm near Osborn Prairie Church near Stone Bluff. After she and Roy rented farm ground near Newtown, Ind., they purchased a farm near Wingate, Ind., where she resided until 2016, when she moved to Pendleton, Indiana, to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Sally and Don Jones. Recently, she had moved to Sugar Fork Crossing Assisted Living facility of Anderson, Indiana. Ruth was a member of the former Center Christian Church near Elmdale, Ind., a member of American Legion Auxiliary, and had been attending the Pleasant Hill United Church of Christ in Wingate prior to her move. She has been a voting member of Farm Bureau since 1947.

She began playing piano for church at Osborn Prairie as a teenaged musician. She continued to do so in a church in every community where she lived, she and was still playing for the services at Pleasant Hill when she moved. She would occasionally play for her fellow residents at Sugar Fork Crossing. In addition to being a pianist, she was an accomplished cook who could whip up a fantastic pie or a loaf of bread in no time. Her homemade wares could be had at many a funeral dinner and bake sale in the community. When she and Roy purchased the Bunnell Machine Shop near Newtown, she became the bookkeeper of both that business and their farm. She enjoyed sewing many of her own outfits, and she dressed her family for many years in the items she created. She and Roy raised a large garden every year, and she preserved hundreds of jars of fruits, vegetables, and pickles over the years.

Survivors include a daughter, Sally, (Don) Jones of Pendleton Ind., and three sons, Bill Bunnell of West Lebanon, Robert ‘Bo’ Bunnell of Wingate, and Charles (Carol Ann) Bunnell of Clarklake, Mich.; ten grandchildren; eleven great grandchildren; and many cherished nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 67 years, Roy Bunnell; son, Thomas ‘Wayne’ Bunnell; sisters, Inez Luzader and Louise Cumbow; brothers, Robert and Ray Campbell; twin great-grandsons, Roy Edward and Hanley Wayne Bunnell-Fry.

Visitation hours are scheduled 5 – 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 with funeral services 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 10, 2023 with Pastor Kristine Marshall officiating at Family and Friends Funeral Home of Wingate. Burial will following in Oakland Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Purdue University Center for Cancer Research. To sign the guest book or share a condolence, visit us at www.familyandfriendsfh.com