Ruthie Mae Murphy-Forshee was born on February 12, 1930 in Coyle, Oklahoma. Her parents were Paul and Magnolia Johnson-Murphy. She was the middle child of three daughters. Mrs. Forshee’s early education was in El Reno, Oklahoma. Later she moved to Oklahoma City and attended Douglass High School when it was located on 6th and High Street. When her mother became ill, during her junior year, she dropped out of school to help the family.
Ruthie met and married Lawrence Forshee and had three children. Having dropped out of school and worked as a domestic, she understood the importance of education and stressed it for her children. When Ruthie’s youngest child was a senior in high school, she enrolled in Wisner’s Business School and became a stenographer.
In her mid 40’s Mrs. Forshee had breast cancer. “it’s something ou have to accept and go on. I’m as good as anybody”, she added. “I’ve got the use of my limbs, my mind, a good husband and three wonderful children. I kept my hands in God’s, and prepared for the worst. Because of that, the surgery wasn’t hard to accept. What more is there? I’ll just have to rework my plans”, she said.
Friends and family convince her to return to school. With determination as her motto, she continued her education and attended Opportunities Industrial Center (OIC) to complete her high school studies and earn her GED. While attending OIC, one of the job placement counselors approached her about a job, as long as she didn’t mind a lot of driving. The job turned out to be a clerk in the library at Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Five years later, she became the night supervisor. She loved it. She loved library work so much that she started taking college level library science courses. A degree was her eventual goal. Mrs. Forshee became the first African American adult employed at Central State University. “People keep me going”, Ruthie commented. Young people and elderly people are my favorites. I figure that the ones in between can take care of themselves.” At her home going service, students, friends and co-workers spoke of how instrumental she was in assisting them in their studies.
An all around mother, she loved to cook, garden, sew and interior decorate. She served on the Deaconess Board, was church secretary and sang in the choir. Mrs. Forshee was a member of the Siloam Baptist Church until her death in 2005. She was the daughter of Uncrowned Queen, Mother Magnolia Johnson-Lewis.
