Born in 1921 on a ranch near Almo, Idaho, Edgar Odell Wake came from pioneer stock.  Life was hard during the Great Depression but the family usually raised enough food to eat, and he and his eight siblings were taught to work hard and to be honest.  Edgar didn’t get to church much when he was young, and fought a lot in elementary school, but started going to church when he went away to high school.  He was also a football player.  Edgar worked on the ranch and for neighbors, and went into the Army during World War II.  His oldest brother was killed by the Japanese, and another brother fought in the Philippines.  Edgar was sent to Japan at the time of the surrender.  After the war Edgar married Utahna Taylor and had three daughters, but that marriage ended in divorce.  That was a very difficult time for him.  He eventually met and married Ruth Wake and had three sons.  Living in Eureka, California and working as an inspector for Pittsburgh Testing Laboratories in local lumber mills, he became active in church and was a very successful stake mission president.  The growing family enjoyed time together camping in the Redwoods, and once drove east on a church history tour through Missouri and Illinois.  After heart attacks and bypass surgery, Edgar had an opportunity to rest for a few weeks when transferred to southwestern Oregon.  The family settled in Coquille, in a house nestled in the woods.  Edgar was a counselor in bishoprics there, and was a great Scoutmaster.  His journals are full of entries about faith and love of family.  He was struck down by a heart attack in 1984.

Born in Inglewood, California in 1922, and raised in central California, Ruth Leila DeWitt spent her childhood reading, sewing, swimming in the canal, and keeping house as her mother and older sisters worked in the cannery.  She also played violin and piano, began a career as a secretary, and served as a missionary in the central states.  Ruth attended BYU briefly, and would later return as an empty nester for more education.  She married Edgar Wake and had three boys in Eureka, California.  There she also organized a program for handicapped individuals, the Indoor Sports Club.  The family moved to Coquille, Oregon, and Ruth continued to raise the family, to serve as Relief Society president, and to work part-time as a school librarian.  After Edgar died she moved to Utah to be nearer two sons who were attending school there.  In Utah she taught piano, helped people learn to read, compiled family histories, and continues to hoe to the end of the row.

This information is taken from “Life Story of Edgar Odell Wake,” and from “Life Story of Ruth L. Wake.”  Additional genealogical information is available at the FamilySearch web site.