Eileen M. Ruth

Eileen Murphy Ruth, 93, a former long-term resident of Corvallis, departed this life peacefully on April 25, 2017, in Moraga, California, with her loving children by her side. She was born in Philadelphia, and grew up in New York City. After graduating high school at the Dominican Academy, she graduated from Manhattanville College in Sociology in 1945. She met a young Naval Officer, Robert H. Ruth, at a Tea Dance in 1941 and corresponded throughout his Naval tour. After her graduation they married and moved to Oregon. They eventually settled near the Oregon Coast. Her husband was a research forester at the Cascade Head Experimental Forest Station where they lived for 7 years and had two children. The tasks of rural life – keeping a cow and chickens, and cooking on a wood stove were unfamiliar to a young woman who had lived her life in NYC but she adapted well to her new lifestyle. After moving to Corvallis in 1954, where she devoted herself to homemaking and her two children, she eventually returned to school, earning a Master’s degree in General Studies-Education with minors in both English and History at Oregon State University. Beginning in 1961, Eileen taught 7th Grade English & Social Studies at Highland View Jr. High until retiring in 1984. She enthusiastically shared her philosophy of life-long learning with her students. After retiring, she focused on worldwide travel to Europe, Russia, the Middle East, North Africa and even made a trip around the world by herself when she was 70. She was a gregarious, resilient, generous, and caring person with a smile that could light up a room. Her nurturing spirit extended beyond family and friends to dogs, birds and all living things. She is preceded in death by her parents, Edna and Joseph Murphy. She leaves bereft her son Richard Ruth, of Sunriver, her daughter Carol Procter, of Moraga, California, grandchildren Lisa Denman (Jason), of Utica, New York, and David Procter (Marisa), of San Carlos, California, and great-grandchildren Katherine and Henry Denman, and Callum, Luciano, and Victoria Procter. Interment will be May 20, 2017, at 11:00 a.m., at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, Corvallis. All those whose lives she touched are welcome to attend.

Tributes

Eileen M. Ruth

April 16, 1924 - April 25, 2017