Ruth Ackerman, 41 and five children died Tuesday, November 29, when a fire leveled their log home at Priest River, Idaho. The father, William Ackerman, 48, thought his family was behind him when he rushed to the door but they weren’t. The minute he opened the door the house became an inferno. A sixth child, Randy, 15 was sleeping in a nearby camper vehicle and was not injured.
The blaze may have been touched off when a double-barrel wood-burning heating stove overheated, according to Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Gordon Sunquist.
Mrs. Ackerman was the former Ruth Patterson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Patterson, former residents of the Paradise and Flora area for approximately 20 years. The Pattersons now live at Route 1 Box 62-D, Sheridan, Montana 59749. Ruth was second cousin to Oris Yeoman of Enterprise.
Wallowa County Chieftain – December 3, 1977 (date was hand written on the obituary)
Transcribed by Dixie Ricker
This was my grandmother. I am a daughter of the 6th child