Ruby Lorett a Dempsey was born on March 21, 1918 in Fresno, CA to Francis & Helen Calvin Dempsey. (Ruby means Red Gemstone . . . its origin is English. It was fi rst used as a name in 1870 and was very common in the early 1900s.) She spent most of her youth and young womanhood in Idaho. Ruby taught in a one-room schoolhouse in the vicinity of Weiser, Idaho before she married Floyd (“Shep”) Shorey in 1940. They lived in Council, Idaho for the next four years and their first four children were born there.
In 1944, the six Shoreys moved to Sutherlin, where Shep was a car loader in the lumber industry and then a grader. In the meantime, they had ten more children! He retired at age 62 from Roseburg Lumber. Sadly, he died in hospital in 1991 from complications due to appendicitis.
These 14 children (and THEIR children and grandchildren) are her treasures. All of them graduated from high school. Their graduation pictures proudly line the walls of her living room. Six of them went on to achieve bachelor’s degrees and half of these went on to attain their masters! Five of the children now live within 50 miles of Sutherlin and can visit routinely – two live in Sutherlin and the oldest, Richard, is the chief broker and owner of North County Realty. Of the ten boys, half of them were in some branch of the service and of these, three were Vietnam vets.



Imagine the logistics of feeding such a brood! This got even more complicated when you didn’t know when you got up in the morning, how many people you’d be feeding that day or bedding down that night! Her kids used to bring home kids and, if necessary, she kept them until they no longer needed to be kept. Naturally, when travelling with such a large family it was necessary to count noses before every trip and after every stop to make sure that no one was missing.
There were never any locks on the doors and neighborhood children called the Shorey house their 2nd home. Jennifer (Handy) High grew up across the street from the Shoreys. Although she had two brothers, she had no sister. So, she “adopted” Margaret (Maggie) as her sister & Ruby, naturally, adopted her, too. She and Maggie both played instruments in the band. Jennifer’s mother didn’t drive, so Ruby was her transportation.
Ruby is short. Every time the city of Sutherlin got a new police officer, they’d stop her when she was driving because they thought that she was a kid. The car’s sun visor was of no use to her, so she always wore a baseball cap, which enhanced the “image.” Those of us who know and love her are well aware that she may be 90 chronologically, but her mind, spirit and love of laughter and fun shows
that she’s still a teen!
She’s a fighter! She took on principals, school boards, and anyone else she perceived to be unjust. And still does! As far as discipline goes, well, “Mom was soft and easy-going; Dad was the strict one,” recalls Richard.
Ruby was only expecting, perhaps, one or two of her children to be able to join her for her birthday; however, March 28-30th was declared Ruby’s 90th birthday weekend. On Sunday, March 30th, the first two pews in St. Francis Xavier R.C. Church were reserved for (and filled by) Ruby (who customarily sat in the 2nd pew) and her family. After the 10:30 Mass, a reception was held in the Church Hall. Most of the parishioners, 11 of her 14 children, 10-15 of her 26 grandchildren and oodles of her greatgrandchildren were in attendance.



Cards and gifts lined the entrance table which also held a lovely guest book to be signed and a picture of the family when there were only 12 of them. Shorey Family members came from as far away as Portland, OR; Tucson, AZ; Las Vegas, NV; California and Maryland. There was the usual cake (eight of them), ice cream, punch and hot beverages. David Shorey had lovingly compiled a beautiful Power Point slide show of his Mom, Dad and the family through the years which was played continuously throughout the day.
The place of honor was clearly indicated on the first table by the word “MOM” which, when read from the other side of the table, spelled “WOW!” On each table was a sheet of paper explaining the origin of Ruby’s name, wishing her a Happy 90th Birthday and, loveliest of all - the sharing of memories:
I REMEMBER ……………
  • She let four Merle Shorey grandkids make cherry pies and cobblers in her kitchen and never got upset about the mess.
  • Giving her an E-ticket ride at a family reunion (from Las Vegas – Ed).
  • Her dancing the “Charleston” in the front room – much laughter accompanied that.
  • Her loading us all into a ’57 Chevy to go bean picking and saying “no one gets back into the car until they have picked their 50#.”
  • Relative to the above, one time she made Dennis and Margaret walk the last half mile to the bean patch because they could not behave in the car.
  • Mom and all the kids camping at Loon Lake and Ruby flipping pancakes for breakfast on a big griddle (from “Loon Lake Lloyd”).
  • Her making huge pots of spaghetti and soups. She was a good cook.
  • Feeling like one of many ducklings following her into church on Sunday. She always insisted we go to the front row.
  • Her making home-made bread and hot cross buns – we could smell them from the bus stop.
  • Her laughing until she cried at the antics of children in her home
… HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY, RUBY LORETTA DEMPSEY SHOREY!