Ruth Avery Of Sunnyvale, born December 21, 1920, passed quietly away on May 6th, after a long decline. She is survived by her husband Harold Avery, and her five children: Nancy Noto, Bill, and Joyce, of Santa Clara Valley, Dale, of Lafayette, Colorado, and Bruce, of San Francisco. Her legacy includes nine lively grandchildren, as well: Andrew, Nathan, Christopher, Sam, Jessie, Elizabeth, Joe, Natalie, and Matthew. She also departs from a stable of devoted sons- and daughters in-law: Barbara, Brian, Kim, and Susan. Born in Detroit to English immigrants George Duffield and Elizabeth Jones Duffield, Ruth suffered the loss of her beloved father when she was fourteen. Yet she was nothing if not resourceful: after her time at the prestigious Cass Tech High School, where she studied art and fashion design, she wrapped packages at the J.L. Hudson store to help support her mother and sister for the Depression-era wage of fourteen dollars a week. She rose from there to become Receptionist for the President of the firm. One source of her resourcefulness was Ruth's strong Christian faith. She belonged to the Detroit chapter of The Young People's Society for Christian Endeavor, where she eventually was elected President and resumed acquaintance with Harold Avery, a young man once her paper boy, and a persistent suitor who had kept her in mind even after he stopped flinging papers onto her stoop. They married on September 25, 1943, just before Harold left for Europe to fight in World War II. When he returned from the war they settled down in Detroit to raise a family, but in 1957 decided to seek a new life in California, where college was, in those days, virtually free and her children could have the education she valued so much. They packed up four children, moved west, and found their dream in the Santa Clara Valley. To her it was paradise. As a life-long resident of the flatlands of Detroit, Ruth was enraptured by the view of the Santa Cruz Mountains she beheld over her kitchen sink, and loved to drive over their summit to Natural Bridges Beach in Santa Cruz to bask in the sun and the sand. Those moments of rest were rare. She always listed her "occupation" on official forms as "homemaker," and she did indeed take a professional approach to making a tract house into that misty place her family cherished: a stable and loving home. A great cook, she wove tapestries of aroma and sizzling sound from burnished brown pie crusts and bubbling gravies to blanket her family in warmth and love. That part of her lives on: all her children love to cook, and her grandchildren speak gleefully of her pies and blueberry muffins. But cooking was only one way she nurtured her people. She was also a great dispenser of tea, cookies, and experience won from living through Depression, War, loss, and finally peace and comfort. Her wisdom always came in the sweet high voice everyone now misses as much as her pies and cakes. Ruth Avery was buried at Alta Mesa Cemetery on May 11th. There will be a private Memorial service on May 31st. Those wishing to make a contribution in her memory may send donations to the Salvation Army, the Vitas Hospice, or The Christian Children's Fund.

Published in San Jose Mercury News on May 27, 2009.