Ruby Basabe, 78

Evangelina Ruby Ysursa Basabe, 78, died Saturday, Dec. 6, 2003, surrounded by her family.

Vigil services will be held Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 6 p.m. and Mass of the Resurrection will be held Thursday, Dec. 11, at 10 a.m. at St. John's Cathedral. Both services will be celebrated by the Rev. Donald J. Riffle, and all arrangements are under the care of Gibson Funeral Home.

Ruby was born on Dec. 17, 1924, at home, to Benito and Asuncion Ysursa. Her parents owned and operated the Modern Hotel so Ruby was surrounded by music, laughter and the constant bustle of a Basque boarding house, her family noted.

She attended St. Teresa's Academy throughout her school years and often shared warm memories of her friends, her adventures and of the strictness of the nuns. In 1941 Benito and Asuncion built the Valencia, a Basque Restaurant and Boarding house. Ruby worked as a waitress for her parents, enjoyed her friends, the herders, and residents of the Valencia and spoke especially fondly of good times at Murray's Drive In.

Then one afternoon in the basement at the Valencia, she noticed a slender, dark-eyed man leaning against the bar with his hat tipped back on his head, her family said. She introduced herself to a young John Basabe. Her Dad made the OK sign with his fingers and said to her, "He's a peach!"

Ruby married John on Feb. 3, 1951, in St, John' Cathedral. At the time, John worked for the Highland Livestock and Land Company. Winter found John and Ruby in Parma at lambing camp and in the spring, when the sheep would be trailed to Idaho City for summer grazing, up at Headquarters where they lived in a tent.

Each day, while John was out checking the sheep bands, Ruby started the campfire, cooked over a camp stove, and cared for their son, Tom. She always spoke fondly of that time in her life, saying how simple and peaceful it was for her little family.

In 1954 John was hired to run the Bruneau Sheep Company so he and Ruby moved to Grand View. As John devoted himself to his new career, Ruby supported him entirely. She fed countless guests at the family home, traveled with John to various business functions and conventions, kept a huge lawn green and the home spotless, her family said. She attended her childrens' basketball and football games, track meets and horse shows, chaperoned skating parties and dances, and was always their greatest supporter, her children said with pride.

In 1981, John and Ruby moved to Eagle. John often teased her that "she cried all the way when we moved to Grand View, and she cried all the way when we left." Once settled in their new home, Ruby became involved in the Elk's Rehabilitation Hospital Auxiliary and served as president in 1986-87. In addition to traveling with her husband, she continued attending her grandchildrens' basketball, baseball and football games and always looked forward to going to mass with her friends or out for a bite to eat.

Ruby is survived by: her sons, Tom of Grand View and Raymond of Eagle; her daughter, Marie and her husband, Larry Alder, of Eagle; four grandchildren; and her brother Ramon and his wife, Begonia, of Boise.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 44 years, and her parents, Asuncion and Benito Ysursa.

The family requests that memorials be made to:

* The John and Ruby Memorial Scholarship at Rimrock High School.

* The John and Ruby Memorial Scholarship at Bishop Kelly High School.

* Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Hospital, Hippotherapy Program.