As requested, woman arrives at her final resting place on a hayrack

DIXON – Mother. Farmer. Nurse. Caregiver.

Ruth Ann Pullen wore many hats, literally, as she had a large collection of the stylish headwear. And going out in style was a request her children granted her Friday.

Pullen passed in early March, but the family decided to have a celebration of life this week. One of the 88-year-old’s last wants was to be taken to her final resting place on the back of a hayrack.

“We have always had hayrack rides, especially around Halloween,” said her daughter, Nicci Wright, “and mom always loved it.”

After his mother mentioned her desire to hayrack to heaven, farmer Mark Smith polished up his 1966 John Deere 4020, gave the rack an angelic coat of white paint and carried Mom to a shady spot atop a hill at Oakwood Cemetery in Dixon.

Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren took the final ride with their beloved.

Around the gravesite, family members shared memories of Ruth, especially her skills in the kitchen and how in a pinch she’d have the kids gather dandelions and fry them up for a delicious snack. They read passages from the Bible with notes in her own handwriting and talked of how out of a diagnosis blossomed a love for dapper hats, so much so she earned the nickname “the hat lady.”

Not all of Ruth’s 125 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren could make the ceremony, but the love was plenty and the memories live on.

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Mark Smith carries mom’s cremains and family up to the gravesite at Oakwood Cemetery Friday, July 7, 2023. Ruth Ann Pullen requested she be shuttled to her final resting place via a hayrack. (Alex T. Paschal - apaschal@shawmedia.com/credit)