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If you want a good idea of how long Morrison Academy Music
Department Chairperson Ruth Jobes has been in Taichung, think
of pedicabs. That's right, pedicabs.
While Taichung might now be filled to the hilt with BMWs and
Mercedes Benzes, it was an entirely different place back when
Jobes arrived in Taiwan in August, 1966. At that time, as
she remembers it, the distinctives of the city were the three-wheeled,
human-driven forerunners of today's yellow taxis, the surrounding
sugarcane fields and narrow-gauge railroad tracks which criss-crossed
the city and were used for hauling the harvested cane.
Time has passed quickly since those days and, in mid-November,
Jobes was among a group of 54 missionaries from 18 countries
to receive the Ministry of Interior's new "Respected
Religious Leaders" award in appreciation for various
contributions made to the people of Taiwan. Indeed, although
Jobes' primary role has been acting musical teacher to international
students at Morrison, her impact has extended far beyond those
confines to the Chinese community. It was an unusual road
that led her to Taiwan in the first place. A native of Marysville,
a small town north of Seattle known for its strawberry festivals,
Jobes studied music and viola at Bob Jones University and
the Eastman School of Music. In September, 1961, she moved
with her husband, Chuck, to the Caribbean island of Aruba
where he served as a radio engineer for Radio Victoria, a
Christian radio station.
Tragedy struck on April 24, 1964 when during his work, Chuck
fell from a 60-foot pole and was fatally injured. With six-year-old
son Christopher and four-year-old Laurie, Jobes continued
working in Aruba as a program writer and producer for a year,
until she felt that God was telling to move on. Through various
interactions with her mission group, The Evangelical Alliance
Mission (TEAM), she ended up in Taiwan over other possible
postings at missionary schools in north India and Japan.
Up to then, Morrison, which was still located at its old campus
near today's Shwei Shih and Chienhsing roads, had no music
director. Starting with a 12-student middle/high school band,
Jobes taught, directed and built up the music program until
peaked with two full bands--advanced and intermediate--during
the early-to-mid-1970s era when the U.S. military presence
in Taichung was at its largest. This trend has continued,
with the school currently having both high school and middle
school bands and a chamber orchestra.
As noted above, however, her achievements extend outside of
Morrison. From 1974 to 1980, she worked with and conducted
the Taichung Youth Orchestra, made up of Chinese and foreign
students and known for its annual performances of Handel's
Messiah. At the request of the orchestra's board, she also
started and directed a music camp, which took in over 100
students from around Taiwan during summers from 1975 to 1979.
About two years ago, she helped found Taichung's Sunrise Symphony,
which she also conducts, at the request of a group of Chinese
music teachers. Made up of about 50 Chinese and foreign students
and adults, the symphony has auditions, practices every Sunday
night and performs about two or three times per semester.
Its most recent performance was an outdoor evening concert
on the tree-lined Chingkuo Boulevard near Hotel National.
This school year marks the last for Jobes in Taiwan before
her retirement. As she looks back on her years and memories
in Taiwan, she says that Taichung has come a long ways and
has made big improvements over the years.
"I've enjoyed it and seen so much improvement. People
think that Taichung and other places in Taiwan are so dirty
but there used to be things like open gutters here. There
have been great strides in garbage collection, too,"
she says, praising Mayor Lin Poh-rung for his emphasis on
parks and greenery in the city.
She also has bittersweet feelings about her departure in September
of next year, divided between her love of the island and her
anticipation of spending time with her children and grandchildren
in the U.S. "I've spent exactly half of my life here,"
says Jobes, 64. "Of course, I know I'll miss it--the
Chinese friends and especially the Chinese food."
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