Ruth A. Reed, a 2nd Cousin

Researching a 2nd Cousin, Ruth A. Reed

My second cousin, Ruth A. Reed, was born on 28 December 1920. I have only her name posted on her mother's page on my website, since I am unsure if she is living. See this page
http://www.joanneskelton.com/p625.htm
So I decided I need to see what more I could find out about Ruth.
I began by doing a general search on Ancestry.com. I found her on the 1940 and 1930 census living with her parents, Earl and Ellen (Ward) Reed. Then I realized that I already had that information while researching her mother, although it is not yet entered into my software so doesn't yet show on my website.
While checking some of the compiled family trees I discovered that someone had entered Ruth's sister, Faith, and showed who Faith had married, George Eden. Then I found that both George and Faith were deceased and were both listed on the Minnesota Death Index. So here is more information to enter. Doing a followup on that information led me to Find A Grave and the double stone for George and Faith is in Harrison Township Cemetery, Swea City, Iowa. It appears they had lived in both Iowa and Minnesota.
Since I believed Ruth was born in Iowa I found that FamilySearch.org has a database of Iowa County Births from 1880-1935. I did a search for just their surname Reed for Kossuth County, Iowa and 4 of Earl and Ellen's children were listed including their middle names.
But I really wanted to determine if Ruth was still alive. Since I didn't know if or who she had married I was at a standstill. I used the Death Records website by Joe Beine and checked for Minnesota obituaries and found that Southern Minnesota Historical Center in Mankato, Minnesota had an obituary index online which covered Blue Earth County. Ruth's mother is listed in this index for 1971, so now I must send a copy request with the appropriate fee to them and hopefully it will list Ruth as a survivor and I can learn her married name and then do further research.
In the meantime I have information from the census, death records and birth records to enter.