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Submitted: 3/8/09 • Approved: 3/9/09 • Last Updated: 8/13/15 • R2965-G2965-S3
Ruth is the daughter of Chester A. Mallory and Zaida Richardson.
Ruth Cobb died at age 93, was beautician for 70 years
Dell Rapids - Until a broken arm forced her to quit, Ruth Cobb had no plans to retire – after all, she was only 93.
Cobb had worked as a beautician for 70 years.
"She never thought of retiring," said Cobb's granddaughter, Ruth Crosby of Madison. "It was what she enjoyed doing more than anything. It was really a blow to her to have to stop."
Cobb, 95, died Sunday, April 30, 1995 in Dell Rapids Community Hospital.
Cobb attended Cosmetology School in Minneapolis.
"She went to Minneapolis for art school and ended up going to beauty school," said Cobb's grandson, Glenn Geraets of Fort Thompson. "She did it because it seemed interesting. And she realized that there was a promising future in it."
In 1924, Cobb opened a beauty shop in Dell Rapids and had it for years, before she had an addition built onto her house in 1970, and then she opened her shop there.
Cobb operated the Ruth Cobb Beauty Shop until December 1993.
"She did everything herself," Geraets said.
"She did have her regulars who stayed with her for years and years," Crosby said.
Virginia Peterson of Dell Rapids said that she had been a customer of Cobb's for 20 years.
"I've known her since I was 4 years old," Peterson said. "She was quite a lady."
Peterson said that she went to Cobb because they were friends.
"We knew the same people," she said. "And she always had a good joke to tell."
During the 1930s, Cobb was the first beautician to receive a permanent wave machine in South Dakota.
"She would load the machine in her Ford and travel around to different cities in eastern South Dakota," Geraets said.
"People would line up appointments for her and she would give permanent waves all day," Crosby said.
In 1934, Cobb was appointed to the state board of Cosmetic Therapy. She later served as president of the South Dakota Hairdressers and Cosmetologists Association in 1941. She was also the national vice president of the International Hairdressers and Cosmetologist Association.
Ruth Mallory was born Feb. 3, 1900 in Dell Rapids. She grew up there and attended public school. She graduated from Dell rapids High School in 1919.
She married Lee Floeschinger in Dell Rapids.
She later married Ty Cobb in Rapid City.
She was a member of the Methodist Church and the Rebekah Lodge. She was the last Gold Star Mother in Dell Rapids.
In addition to her two grandchildren, survivors include three additional grandchildren: Larry Geraets of Portsmouth, Va.; Sam Geraets of Carter Lake, Iowa; and Joan Meyer of Sioux Falls; and one sister, Juanita Wendt of Downey Calif.
Services will begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Kahler Funeral Home Chapel in Dell Rapids, with burial in the Dell Rapids Cemetery.
Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. today in the funeral home, with the family present from 7 to 8 p.m.
Contributed on 3/8/09 by dellsfig68
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Record #: 2965