F. Ruth “Ruthie” (Jordan) Jackson Van Epps (b. 1934 - d. 2024) is a descendant of the Arizona pioneer Jordan family and ranch of Sedona, Arizona and Verde Valley area. For 70+ years she has been sharing Arizona’s story, especially as it aligns with her personal story. Her parents, Walter and Ruth (Woolf) Jordan, settled in Arizona’s Verde Valley area. Walter came from a farming and ranching family and Ruth's family settled in Tempe.
After graduating as a teacher from Tempe Normal School (now Arizona State University), Ruthie’s mother, Ruth Woolf, taught in a one-room, rural school in Beaver Creek, about twenty-five miles south of Sedona. She rode horseback daily from Soda Springs Ranch, the “dude” ranch where she lived. Socials at the school with locals from around the Verde Valley were a regular occurrence. That is where Ruth met Walter. They married on July 20, 1930, in Tempe at 5:00 am to avoid the heat.
Ruth joined Walter on the farm in Sedona where they started a family. Ruthie was the second of three children. Because there were no hospital facilities in the Sedona area, she was born in Flagstaff on May 4, 1934, and raised on the farm in Sedona. Growing up in the Verde Valley in a close-knit extended family she was exposed to many early stories about Territorial Arizona. Ruthie attended school in Sedona, Red Rock, and Cottonwood. After high school, she left Arizona for a short time to attend college at the University of Redlands in California (1951-1954) where she earned a Bachelor of Art degree in Elementary Education. On June 19, 1954, Ruthie married her high school sweetheart, Larry Jackson. From 1954-1957 Larry and Ruthie lived in Berkeley, California where he attended seminary school with a focus on missionary work.
After graduation, Larry and Ruthie served as missionaries on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations in Northern Arizona for the American Baptist Home Mission Board. They lived at Keams Canyon where they made lifelong friends. Their two sons, Leland (1958) and Kevin (1960) were born at the Ganada Presbyterian Hospital. It was during this time that Ruthie started sharing Arizona’s stories with others. Part of the missionary requirement was to provide outreach to churches and other groups for financial support. With 35mm slides, various artifacts, and a story to tell, Ruthie traveled extensively to other states during their time in Keams Canyon seeking donations for their work. Unfortunately, in 1965 Larry was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer so they left their post on the reservation and moved to the Phoenix area. He passed away on December 14, 1969.
After leaving the reservation, Ruthie attended Arizona State University where she earned two master’s degrees, one in education and one in counseling. She began substitute teaching and working with homebound students. Eventually she began teaching college courses in Arizona history at Mesa Community College.
By the mid-1970s, Ruthie began collecting the stories told by her father and other “old timers.” These stories led to her first book titled, Following Their Westward Star, that was eventually published in 2005. She wrote it as a memorial to her father and to her beloved aunt, Helen Jordan, George’s wife.
Taking her experience from her life living with the Navajo and Hopi people, as well as the oral history she grew up with and the information gathered to support her book, Ruthie began offering historical tours and talks around Arizona to share the magnificence of the state and its people. In 1985 she established a tour company, Tsegi Tours, that operated for about 15 years. Through these experiences she made learning fun as well as educational. It was on one of these tours that she met her current husband, Lee Van Epps, of over thirty years.
After she closed her business, Ruthie continued to share her Arizona history knowledge by speaking to groups, schools, and anyone who was interested. In 2016, she co-hosted a family reunion in Arizona for the Jordan Family Foundation. Over 125 people from across the United States attended the five-day intensive tour of Jordan-related sites and influences in the Prescott and Verde Valley area.
As a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) White Tanks Mountain Chapter in Surprise, Arizona, Ruthie was awarded four awards. Two were given in November 2015, and two in November 2021 including the Historic Preservation Medal and the Historic Preservation Recognition Award for her work in historic preservation in Arizona. As the Chair of Historic Preservation for the Chapter, Ruthie is a frequent presenter about Arizona pioneer life and Native Americans.
As Ruthie faces the end of a lifetime of sharing, she continues to support local museums in the Verde Valley with memberships and has a second book in the works. While she has cut back on her in-person presentations, she is sharing her knowledge with her granddaughter and great-granddaughter as well as special trainings with volunteer docents at the Sedona Heritage Museum where she also makes appearances for special events. Recently, she was present for the 25th Anniversary celebration of the museum’s establishment at the former Jordan family home. Additionally, she has been working with the museum and the City of Sedona to get her father’s water system and pumping station placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
As Ruthie says, “Everything I ever did was related to Arizona history!”
NOTE: SHM Research Center was notified that F. Ruth "Ruthie" (Jordan) Jackson Van Epps passed away on Monday, June 3, 2024 at Banner Boswell Hospital in Sun City, Arizona.