Elma Ruth Petty

Elma “Ruth” Petty passed away on Sunday, October 27, 2013 in Milwaukie, Oregon. She was 76 years old. Funeral service will be held at Wilhelm Memorial Chapel at 3PM on Tuesday, October 29, 2013. The chapel is located at 6705 SE 14th Ave, Portland, OR 97202. Graveside services will be at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Colma, CA on Friday, November 1, 2013 at 1:30PM. There is a lovely tribute to Ruth’s life at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/elmaruthpetty. Ruth was born on May 27, 1937, the day the Golden Gate Bridge opened for business. She was the third child of John Walter Dean and Stella Lucille Huls Dean. Raised in San Francisco, Ruth attended Notre Dame Catholic High School in the Mission District. She married James Miller Petty, on June 27, 1953 while he was on two week leave from the Navy. James and Ruth had six children and lived on Newman Drive, South San Francisco until the mid 1970s, when they moved to Petaluma, California. Ruth became a medical assistant for Kaiser Permanent at age 50. Then upon James death in 1992, Ruth moved to Oregon to be closer to family. Her companion of over 15 years was Earl Stocker of Durham, Oregon. Ruth is survived by her grandfather, James S. Petti, siblings: Walter, Rich and Shirley Dean, Joy and Gene Bruno, and her children: Robert Petty of Kennedale, TX, Ronald Petti of Portland, OR, Cynthia Cleary and Cheryl Ketchum of Oklahoma City, OK, Christine Worrell of Manassas, VA and Carin Columbus of North Dakota. Please feel free to leave a condolence for the family on this web page. Flowers for the service can also be ordered through this web page, but make sure to indicate which funeral service you want the flowers delivered to. First service is in Portland, OR at Wilhelm's Portland Memorial and the second service is in Colma, California at Woodlawn Memorial Park Funeral Home. Service Information