Ruth Jacobs' Obituary
Ruth JacobsBorn in 1930 in Dubuque, Iowa, Ruth passed away at home in Burlingame on October 29, 2010 after a courageous battle with breast cancer.Ruth was raised in several small Mississippi river towns including Trempealeau and La Crosse, Wis., and Brownsville, Minn., where she learned her traditional midwestern values. Ruth's father, John McKinley Winslow, was a Mississippi riverboat captain and WWI veteran; Ruth's mother, Eva Louise Winslow, was an excellent baker, seamstress and quilter. Ruth was adventurous and active and rode her bicycle seven miles each way on Saturdays to see movies in Galesville, Wis. She also loved to go fishing with her father on the Mississippi River, and was devoted to her siblings Nancy, John and Louis.Proud of her heritage, Ruth was a direct lineal descendant of Edward Winslow, a Mayflower Pilgrim who co-founded and served as governor of the Plymouth Colony. She was a strong supporter of the Historic Winslow House Association of Marshfield, Mass.Ruth graduated high school at age 16 and attended college for a year, supporting herself, because she was too young to enroll in nursing school. She graduated from St. Francis School of Nursing in La Crosse, and began a career as a highly skilled and caring nurse.In the summer of 1952, Ruth served as the nurse at Camp Nahelu in Michigan, a private children's camp where she met her husband, Robert, who was a camp counselor. Ruth was the love of Bob's life, and he of hers. Ruth relocated to Chicago where her husband-to-be was a sophomore at Northwestern Medical School. She became head nurse on the orthopedic ward of Wesley Memorial Hospital, one of Northwestern Medical School's teaching hospitals.After a two-year courtship, Ruth and Bob were married in Chicago in June of 1954. They moved to San Francisco where Ruth worked at Notre Dame Hospital during Bob's internship. Bob then joined the army, and their first child, Victoria McLynn, was born at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Ruth and Bob moved to Denver where he served his pediatric residency at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital. Daughter Lauren Anne was born in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Upon army discharge, the Jacobs family moved to Burlingame in 1961. Bob practiced pediatric medicine until his retirement in 2005. During many of those years, Ruth was Bob's medical assistant and office manager, while nurturing her family and cultivating her garden.Ruth was a Burlingame community activist, and received the Burlingame Citizen of the Year Award in 2008. She was a trailblazer in many respects. Ruth was Burlingame's first woman planning commissioner, a position she held for 23 years, acting as chairperson for five terms. She was not trained as a planner, but she diligently learned the field and acquired considerable expertise.Ruth served as Franklin School PTA president and was awarded an honorary life membership. She was also president of the Burlingame Intermediate School PTA and was a Girl Scout leader. She particularly enjoyed participating in the social studies classes at Mills High School, where she played the role of governor during a reenactment of the legislative process.Ruth was a founder of the Burlingame Historical Society and president of the Burlingame Homeowner's Association. She served on a task force to study the building of a new police station in Burlingame. In recent years she advocated for the community's interests in the construction of the new Peninsula Hospital. She was a member of the Peninsula Temple Sholom Sisterhood, the Mills Estate Women's Club and the Burlingame Guardians.Ruth was a patriotic person with a great love for the "best country in the world." She enjoyed the democratic process and was actively involved at the national, state and local levels. She served on the San Mateo County Republican Central Committee and managed several Burlingame city mayoral campaigns. She worked tirelessly on elections for the Burlingame School Board, City Council, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and Peninsula Hospital District.Ruth was a people person and a dear friend to many. She believed in helping to build a strong neighborhood and was the glue that held her street together. She taught her daughters the importance of working hard and always doing your best, giving back to the community and the moral imperative of living life for the benefit of others. She shared her love of gardening with her daughters and her neighbors. Ruth's front yard and garden were her artistic masterpiece, and she won the "Most Beautiful Garden in Burlingame" contest in the early 1970s. She was an avid reader of history and loved ice cream.Invariably optimistic, Ruth's mottos, as she aged, were: Be positive. Stay active. Make do. She was a singularly exceptional, accomplished and extraordinary person and she will be missed greatly. She is survived by her beloved and adoring husband, Robert, daughters Victoria Jacobs and Lauren Jacobs Black, son-in-law John Black, her brothers John (Judy) and Louis (Carole), and many nieces, nephews and loving friends.Internment was private at Skylawn Memorial Park. A tree will be planted in Ruth's memory at Burlingame City Hall. Memorial donations can be made to the Burlingame Historical Society Museum Fund, P.O. Box 144, Burlingame, CA 94010, or the Historic Winslow House Association, Attn: Mark Schmidt, P.O. Box 531, Marshfield, MA 02050.
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