Ruth Arcadia Loche's Obituary
Ruth Arcadia Loche of Tulsa, Oklahoma passed from this life on March 29, 2019 at the age of 91.Ruth was born on November 27, 1927 in Tulsa, OK, number four of eight children to Oreb and Eula Loche, and was the epitome of a hard-scrabble Okie, a risk taker and an early female entrepreneur. She attended Lowell Junior High and Central High School.As a young girl, she and her older siblings would work at the Tulsa Trenton Market shelling peas and snapping green beans. Her first real job was a “soda jerk” at Evans Drug Store on North Peoria. She then worked at Tulsa Camera Record and later at Triangle Blueprint. She worked nights in her garage building her own printing company and eventually moved her business to downtown Tulsa to start Arcadia Printing. She later sold her company to her nephew so that she could vacation with family from coast to coast and travel in her RV with the Good Sam’s Club. Arcadia Printing of Tulsa is now a successful 50-year family-owned business.That grit and determination started much earlier and she was intensely competitive. By 9th grade she had become a skilled marble player, beating 300 boys to earn the title of Tulsa’s marble champion in a competition sponsored by Lowell Junior High School. That led to her being featured in “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” in 1943.Ruth was a volunteer at the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, The Ministry Center, and worked many events at the Tulsa Fairgrounds. She was a long-time member of Ranch Acres Baptist Church. She spent the winters in Rio Hondo, Texas. She loved to fish and every evening a group would meet on the dock to see who would catch the biggest fish. She also was a member of the River Ranch Resort Red Hat Society. For many years she was the catcher on a women’s softball team, and later in life became a football enthusiast–always rooting for the Dallas Cowboys and the OU Sooners.She was preceded in death by her parents, Oreb and Eula Loche; sister, Marguerite Ash, Mexia, TX; brother, Everett Loche, killed in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII and three infant siblings.Ruth is survived by two sisters–Myrtle Parriman and Wanda Ellis both of Tulsa, many nieces and nephews and a host of friends.Visitation will be 5-7 pm, Monday, April 8, 2019 at Floral Haven Funeral HomeA Memorial Service will be held on Tuesday, April 9th at 11:00 am at Ranch Acres Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Ranch Acres Baptist Church, Seasons Hospice or a charity of your choice.
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