By Jim Muir
I like to look at what I do in this space as small ‘portraits’ of life through my eyes. Today’s ‘portrait’ involves fading summer, a lifelong love affair and ‘travelin’ on.’
Let me explain.
I’m asked to speak at various venues on a regular basis, a list that in the past year has included sports banquets at a half dozen high schools, a junior high and high school graduation and various civic groups. It’s something I enjoy.
Recently, I experienced a ‘first’ – I was asked to speak at a birthday party for 100-year-old Stella (Burzynski) Stewart, of Benton. I hold the Stewart family in high regard and I saw the request as an honor and a challenge so I readily accepted the invitation.
Stella is one of 12 children of immigrant parents and grew up in Rend City, an area located northwest of Benton, near Valier. Stella raised eight children and still lives alone. To say Stella is a remarkable lady who has lived a remarkable life would be an understatement.
When I arrived at the party at the Benton Kiwanis Hall, I knew many people there and I sort of just mixed and mingled and visited – something I do very well. The person I spent the most time talking with that day was Ruth Grammer, Stella’s 88-year-old ‘younger’ sister.
Ruth was married to former Grand Ole Opry star Billy Grammer, who passed away in 2011. Billy also grew up in Rend City, one of 13 children, and achieved stardom in 1958 with his million-seller Top 5 hit, “Gotta Travel On.” Ruth and Billy were married 65 years.
On an afternoon when reminiscing was the main theme I listened as Ruth told me about graduating high school at age 16 and traveling alone 900 miles to Washington, D.C. for her first job. She said it was the most excited and scared she has ever been in her life.
I heard about Billy borrowing $50 from Verbal Rea, who ran the relief office in Valier, to hitchhike to Virginia for a job possibility with nationally known disc jockey Connie B. Gay, who had a live radio show at WARL Radio in Arlington, Va.
You could still see the pride in Ruth’s eyes when she finished the story by telling me that Billy beat out 150 other guitarists and won the audition and a spot on the national radio show. She talked and recalled Billy’s success in country music that led to appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “Dick Clark’s American Bandstand,” “Bill Anderson’s Backstage Opry,” “Hee Haw” and others. He also worked as a front man musician for the likes of Patsy Cline, Grandpa Jones, Charlie Pride, Louis Armstrong, George Jones and Ernest Tubb. I did more listening than talking but thoroughly enjoyed visiting with Ruth.
Last Sunday morning, the day before Labor Day, Ruth did what she has done every Sunday morning for virtually her entire life – she headed to Rend City Baptist Church – the church she attended as a child, the church where she married the love of her life way back in 1944. During the service, and without a sound, Ruth simply slumped over in the pew and passed away – suffering a massive heart attack. Much like a cowboy dying with his boots on, Ruth passing away at the church she loved and that had been such a huge part of her life seemed proper and fitting to me.
After I heard about Ruth passing away, I spent a good deal of time recalling our conversation only eight days earlier. The single thing that stood out to me was that she really missed Billy every single day. As she had told me the weekend before she died, she missed talking to him, she missed holding his hand, she missed listening to him ‘make a guitar talk’ … she just missed him.
“Oh, how I wish I could sit and watch him play guitar again,” is one poignant comment that stuck with me.
Through the wonders of modern technology, I went to YouTube and found a recording of Billy Grammer performing “Gotta Travel On.”
I watched the black and white video and I was struck by the irony in the chorus of the song and the timing of Ruth’s death. The chorus goes like this:
I’ve laid around and played around
This old town too long
Summer’s almost gone
Yes, winter’s comin’ on
I’ve laid around and played around
This old town too long
And I feel like I gotta travel on
While fall does not officially begin until September 23, I’ve always thought of Labor Day weekend as the unofficial end of summer. And on Labor Day weekend 2015, with summer almost gone and winter comin’ on, Ruth Grammer traveled on and crossed the threshold from this life to the next one. And I believe her beloved Billy, probably with guitar in hand and a big smile on his face, was there waiting for her. While there was a sense of sadness for me that Ruth had passed and the world had lost such a remarkable woman, there was a greater sense of joy because she is reunited with the love of her life. What a reunion that must have been!
