Ruth R. Stanley

Ruth R. Stanley

Ruth R. Stanley nee Dorothy Ruth Rogers died at her daughter’s home on December 16, 2024.  At 97 years old Ruth succumbed to ailments of aging and COPD, but left the earth peacefully and comfortably.

Ruth was born in Oroville, California on February 19, 1927.  Her parents divorced when she was an infant and Ruth was raised by her mother and her stepfather in Klamath Falls, Oregon.  She was a precocious learner requiring unique tutoring in mathematics as she outpaced the primary school curriculum.  She enrolled at the University of California Berkeley (Go Bears!) at 16 years of age.  While she desired entrance into the engineering school, at that time in history few women were participating in engineering studies and she was denied entry.  She graduated from UC Berkeley in 1948 with a major in Russia and Far East Studies and a minor in theater.  Making her way to Washington State she met William Stanley, married and had 4 children.  While the marriage didn’t last, Ruth’s commitment to her children and drive to be independent sent her back to school and into the workforce where she started working in electronics assembly and ultimately to a 24-year career at Rocket Research Company (1968-1992), now known as Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc. As a Quality Data Analyst she had responsibilities in many projects that have been launched into space including Voyager, Magellan, Viking and multiple Space Shuttles.

After retirement Ruth traveled extensively with trips to China, Italy, Egypt, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Nairobi, Thailand, Cambodia and DisneyWorld!  Throughout the years Ruth maintained an avid interest in the arts with season tickets to multiple seasons of the Seattle Opera and Seattle Symphony.  She also ushered at the Village Theater in Issaquah for many seasons.  Her oldest daughter Michele was born with developmental disabilities and thus Ruth advocated for students with special needs and was a lifelong supporter of The Special Olympics.  Ruth was a quiet, determined and fiercely independent woman.  She embraced stray animals and stray children with a generous spirit, making them all family.

Ruth is survived by her daughter Gretchen McLaurin, son-in-law Clif McLaurin, grandsons Colin McLaurin, Frank Stanley, and Jeff Stanley and his wife Adrienne, and her great grandchildren Erik Benjamin, Celeste Juliet and Celine Allena.  She is predeceased by her first grandson Justin McLaurin, her son Erik Stanley and her daughters Michele and Lisa Stanley.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to:

Special Olympics of Washington:  https://impact.sowa.org/give/265704/#!/donation/checkout

The Seattle Opera:  https://secure.seattleopera.org/donate/contribute1

Seattle Humane Society:  https://www.seattlehumane.org/?form=donate

On a personal note, I recommend asking all of the questions now, even the hard ones.  While I don’t remember a lot of sentimentality in my youth, in the last five months of my mother’s life we told each other “I love you” and “thank you” every night.  It was our blessing that she spent her last months with my husband and I and now that she is gone I have a lot of questions, but no one left to answer them.