Ruth Buckley Bottoms accepting the Robe of Achievement, 2004

Ruth Buckley was the daughter of Benjamin and Grae Buckley. As a child she attended the Friendship SDB Church. When she was about 12 years old her father died and Ruth went to live with Mr. and Mrs. John Cartwright in Bolivar, NY on their farm. She thought their son Bruce was cute and in 1938 she married him. They had 4 children. Unfortunately Bruce died in 1952. Ruth remarried in 1953 to Francis Bucher and they had 3 children together. They built a large house on Willow Brook Road, Little Genesee, NY and had a small apartment in the back of the house for Francis’ Aunt Mary. After Aunt Mary died they had Grandpa Cartwright there until he died. The took a wing of the old house and made a guest house behind the new house for the former owner of the farm, Clarence Giddings to live on the farm as long as he wanted. Francis was the co-owner of the Rock City Park out of Olean, NY with his brother and cousins and Ruth inherited his share and later bought out the others. Ruth and Francis were Charolais cattle breeders and when Francis had cancer surgery one of her sons was discharged early from the Army to help her. Francis died in 1974. In 1975 Ruth remarried an old friend, Charles Bottoms and lived in Buffalo for a short time but on retirement they returned to the Farm in Little Genesee.

Ruth turned her home into a ‘Nursing Home’ and kept many relatives, Francis’ sister, sister-in-law, 2 cousins and the old hired man from the Cartwright farm and friends including Ms Emmitt Bottoms (widow of SDB Minister and Charles mother) and the last resident was Margaret Burdick (daughter of SDB Minister Rev and Mrs Alva Davis). She sold her farm in 2002 and moved to Scio, NY to be close to her sister and brothers.

She was a Grange member, a member of Rowena Ames Music Club and a member of Sunshine Society (the Ladies Aid of the First SDB Church of Genesee) so she could help the community where she lived. Ruth was on the Board of Christian Education from 1970-1973 serving on the Family Life Committee. She wrote an article on “Christian Responsibility” which was published in the March 4, 1972 Sabbath Recorder and was reprinted in the September 1983 issue.

While Robert Harris was pastor in Richburg, NY he and Ruth wrote a tract on “Do you Read Your Bible and Ever Stop to Wonder, or do you Take Someone Else’s Word,” on the question of the Sabbath. The Missionary Society used this tract in Africa.

Ruth was a former Moderator of Allegheny Association, a member/chair of the Evangelism Committee of the Allegheny Association and in charge of the Allegheny County Fair Booth for several years. She always supported Camp Harley Sutton and was the current Association Obituary Committee Chairman at the time of this award.

She was always active in the Richburg SDB church, attending there when she lived with the Cartwrights and later she was the clerk, a deaconess, trustee, taught Sabbath School, and directed Bible School a number of times. She helped host Minister’s Conference at least twice and always provided housing for any guests who needed a room for Association or Denominational leaders.

She hosted an SCSC team the summer Helene Nelson and Donna Sanford were in the program serving the Richburg church. Ruth was working the County Fair Booth and she and her children had their cattle at the Fair- even so she let the SCSCers have the bed at the end of the camper to sleep in.

She housed Senior Saints and National Field Worker Ron Elston, when they were doing Revivals in Richburg. The burden of closing the Richburg SDB church fell on her shoulders as she was the clerk and trustee and she spent many hours looking up records, deeds, etc. to satisfy the legal system. She also sent many records to the SDB Historical Society in Janesville, WI where the Historian Don Sandford is quoted as saying Ruth operated in a ‘fitting and orderly’ way in the closing of the Richburg church. After the church closed Ruth became an active member of the First SDB Church of Genesee and served as a deaconess. She was also helpful and generous to the church in Genesee helping rebuild the church building after it was destroyed by fire in 2001.