Ruth Ann Matthews, 93, passed away on Nov. 7 in Fremont.
Ruth Ann Matthews, 93, passed away on Nov. 7 in Fremont.
She was born in Dos Palos, CA, on March 26, 1911 to parents Bessie (Wheeler) Maginnis and Frank D. Maginnis. In 1921 the family moved to Tres Pinos where Ruth attended elementary school. Later, she and her sister Leah went to San Benito High School and junior college in Hollister. Ruth graduated from San Jose State in 1933 and married her college sweetheart, Wayne Matthews.
Ruth’s first job as a teacher was at the one room Santa Anita School, 12 miles from Hollister. She drove to school in a Ford Coupe, picking up as many students as she could. She needed at least 6 pupils to keep the school open.
The family lived in Santa Cruz during WWII then returned to Hollister to raise their three children. Ruth resumed teaching in 1948 at the R. O. Hardin Grammar School in Hollister and continued in the Belmont School system after their move to the Bay Area in 1959. In 1964 Wayne became a PG&E District Manager and they settled in Aptos. Ruth taught in the Watsonville area until she retired in 1976. Ruth was a dedicated teacher and a strong advocate of the public school system.
After retirement she was active in the AAUW and volunteered with the American Red Cross. She was a member of the Hollister Eastern Star, Hollister Methodist Church, and later the Aptos Community U.M.C. She was widowed in 1978. Ruth enjoyed travel abroad, bridge, reading, and knitting and loved her cats and her seven grandchildren. She never overlooked their birthdays even though they lived as far away as Alaska and Australia.
Her survivors include daughter Donna Shetrone and husband Harry, Dallas, Texas; son Warren Matthews and wife Donna, Anchorage, Alaska; daughter Janet Nunes and husband Bill, Fremont. She also has seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. They will all miss her presence.
A graveside service will be held at the IOOF Cemetery in Hollister , Buena Vista Road, on Nov. 20 at 1pm. Rev. Ardyss Golden of the United Methodist Church will officiate. Arrangements and cremation are through Black Cooper Sander Funeral Home and Gavilan Hills Crematory, Hollister, CA
