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The Water Lady Has Left the Building

Cranfills Gap and Mustang may be small communities, but they are home to an icon as well-known as Fort Worth. Ruth Tucker has retired after 41 years of service to Mustang Valley Water and to her community. Everybody knows her. Just ask anyone around; they have all heard that friendly voice saying, “Sweetie, this is Ruth, your water lady.”

A grand celebration to honor Ruth was held on Saturday, January 7th, 2017, from 2-4pm at the Cranfills Gap Community Center. It was a “Come & Go,” but many stayed to chat and share stories with Ruth. There were plenty of those.

The Mustang Valley Board of Directors expressed their appreciation for Ruth by giving her a 55 inch flat screen TV, which will be mounted on the wall of her home. Don White's photography took a beautiful portrait of Ruth, which visitors can view in the new offices of Mustang Valley Water Supply Corporation.

Ruth Tucker came to Bosque County in the 1960's with her husband Parks Tucker, and this gal from the big city decided she loved the country life. In the 60's, every rural family in Mustang still had their own water well. In true Texan form, when life was hard the Tuckers always dug in to find a solution. So, when their water well stopped working, a band of friends got together to start a water company. After a year of planning, HC Tucker, Oliver Hanson, and Ray, Albert and John Hastings, along with the first 50 members of Mustang Valley Water dug their first well in the Mustang community in 1975.

The Mustang Valley Water Supply Corporation began as a member-owned cooperative lead by a panel of six board members. The 50 members and 1 well have now grown to 768 meter connections, 7 wells and 258 miles of pipe covering a large rectangle that encompasses the rural land between Clifton, Meridian and Cranfills Gap, and as the name implies, services all of Mustang.

Ruth Tucker has been a vital part of making it all happen, because she has been running the office for about 41 years. She knows all the members and they know her. It is quite amazing to hear her describe where everyone lives, where their meter is, and how they became members. So integral is she to the company, that most members think she is the owner.

With her loyalty and selfless service in mind, the current Board of Directors, consisting of President Doug Kieta, Treasurer Tom Blossom, Secretary Gris Griswold, Myron Lee, Aubrey Richards, Harold Leigh and Nancy Bratcher, honored Ruth in April of 2015 by naming the first well after her. Mrs. Tucker was quite surprised when the board had her unveil the Ruth Tucker Well sign that will forever hang in her honor. After all, she is quite deserving, Sweetie. She is Ruth Tucker, the water lady.