Ruth Agnes Railsback Archie, 98, died on April 1, 2013, in Hutchinson, Kan., close to the town of Langdon where she was born to Roy Austin Railsback and Mary Edna Lane Railsback.

She graduated from Langdon High School, attended Sterling College for two years and Emporia State College for one summer. She then taught in a rural school near Sterling for two years and taught second grade and third grade in Turon for two years. There she met her future husband, geologist Gustave Erdman Archie. After marriage in 1938, the couple settled in Houston where Mr. Archie worked for Shell Oil; his international oil exploration work took both to Europe and Russia.

He preceded her in death. They raised four surviving children, John (wife Judy) of Boynton Beach, Fla., Peter (wife Sharon) of Nashville, Tenn., Nancy of Hutchinson, Kan., Lee of Greenwood, SC; two grandchildren survive her, Cheryl Ross (husband Brian) of Boca Raton, Fla., daughter of John; John Gustave Archie, son of Lee, a doctoral candidate at the University of California in Santa Cruz; twin great-granddaughters, Kayla and McKenzie Bailey, Cheryl's daughters, attending Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, mourn her as well.

Mrs. Archie was active in her West University Community in Houston as an upholstery teacher, a member of the Houston Museum, and a volunteer either through her needlework, cooking, or nursing; she was an expert mender for individuals and for organizations. She was interested in reading, china painting, embroidering, rug making, and sewing. She wrote 175 short stories, many commemorating events and people she met during several trips to Europe after WWII. In 1998, after 60 years in Houston, Mrs. Archie joined her sister Edith Daily, deceased in 2005, at Wesley Towers Retirement Community in Hutchinson. A cousin, Evelyn Railsback Nunamaker of South Hutchinson, survives Mrs. Archie and is the last of those who carried the name of Railsback down from their ancestors who settled in Kansas in 1871.

Her remains will be cremated and interred at the Maple Hill Cemetery, outside of Langdon, where a memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, April 5, 2013, with Reverend Dr. Kim Biery officiating. Friends may sign her register book from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at Elliott Mortuary. Memorials may be made to Planned Parenthood, in care of Elliott Mortuary, 1219 N Main, Hutchinson, KS 67501.