Ruby Rose Stauber has always wanted to help others.
She set the bar, being the first woman to serve in five different military posts throughout her career. And her love for genealogy lead her to volunteer every Saturday morning at the Grove, Okla., library to help others navigate their family tree.
It's only fitting, then, that the McDonald County native was recently honored by having her papers and work on exhibit for others to see.
The groundbreaking military journalist's papers were featured in an exhibit sponsored by the State Historical Society of Missouri's Springfield Research Center.
Stauber's exhibit included research, letters, photographs, history records of McDonald County, genealogy information and other details about her great-uncle Cyrus Avery, who was known as "The Father of Route 66."
Stauber, now a resident of Grove, Okla., wanted the McDonald County Historical Society to help her find a good home for her collection of papers, which focused on military, genealogy and her life's story, explained McDonald County Historical Society President Lynn Tatum.
"I knew that we did not have the resources to properly care for such a large collection, so I invited Erin Smither, our regional representative to the State Historical Society, to come over and take a look," Tatum said.
As an expert in preservation of documents, Smither reviewed the collection, then suggested establishing an exhibit to display the papers in Springfield.
Tatum was pleased to have Stauber's work on display. In addition to being a pioneer with a groundbreaking military journalism career, Stauber is an exceptional person.
"She is one awesome gal and a cherished friend," Tatum said.
Stauber, born in 1928, is a graduate of Noel High School and Southwest Missouri State University. She earned a teaching degree and taught junior high school students, then joined the U.S. Army in 1951.
Stauber's sister, Shirley McAllister, said Rose began teaching, then decided she wanted to pursue a different career.
She came home one weekend and told her parents that she had already joined the Army. She really hadn't yet but she told them it was finalized. She didn't want them to talk her out of it, McAllister said.
Stauber went on to establish an impressive military career, earning the ranking of colonel. During her time in the army, she earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. She served as a public affairs officer of the V Corps and as editor of the army's magazine, Military Review, and its newspaper, Stars and Stripes.
In 1979, she made history when she became the first woman to hold the position of editor-in-chief of the newspaper's European edition.
McAllister said the colonel served in Vietnam and Germany, among other stints.
All four Stauber children, including brothers Jim and Steve, were inspired by their parents, Anna Pearl Rose Stauber and Martin Stevens Stauber Sr. -- hard-working and educated people who wanted to see their children succeed.
After she raised their four children, Mrs. Stauber returned to college to earn her degree. She then taught school for several years. Their father -- a banker, farmer, president of the school board and judge -- was "proud of us all."
"He would introduce Rose as, 'This is my favorite daughter, a colonel, and he would introduce me as his favorite daughter, a doctor,'" McAllister said.
It was their father who first asked the colonel to help with family genealogy, something she would throw herself into after retirement in 1982.
"Rose became interested in genealogy strictly by accident," McAllister said. "We had seven Stauber cousins in western Oklahoma and Dad was the historian." At one point, however, Mr. Stauber appointed her the historian, "because he knew she's going to get it right. She's going to check on it and have some kind of record."
Genealogy became more than just a growing interest. "Rose could not do anything halfway," McAllister said. "She became an expert in Indian genealogy."
She began to volunteer every Saturday morning at the Grove Library to help others with their genealogy efforts. McAllister said many people relied on her to be there every week and point them in the right direction.
With her love of genealogy, history and writing, Stauber also authored books on the history of Delaware County, Okla., and McDonald County.
To honor her service, Tatum said the McDonald County Historical Society will have the military artifacts of Stauber's on loan for two years when the Society's "Stories of Military Service" exhibit begins in May 2018.
General News on 02/23/2017