Located in the SW portion of Chico Cemetery is a small columbarium that contains a flagpole and the ashes of military veterans and their spouses. One of these spouses is Ruth Pearl Wood who was born January 5, 1912 and died May 9, 2012. I located an obituary for Ruth on FindaGrave.com
On May 9th, 2012 Ruth Pearl Wood passed away with the quiet dignity that she had lived her life. She was born Jan. 5th, 1912 in Corning California, the 5th of 6 children to Harry and Blanche Hotchkiss. She was the last surviving child. She was born in the house that she grew up in on Toomes Avenue and graduated from Corning Union High School in 1930.
After graduating she moved to Southern California to live with her older sister Gail, a registered nurse. She worked at several jobs before moving to San Francisco and lived with her sister Kay. Kay was dating and would marry Jack Wiley a career soldier stationed at the Presidio. It was through Kay and Jack that Mom met, fell in love with and married Morris Bennett Wood also a career soldier. They married in 1938 and lived in San Francisco until the outbreak of WWII. Their first child, Allen, was born at Letterman Gen. Hosp. in 1940.
Ruth returned to Corning with her son when her husband was sent to Europe in 1943. She lived modestly in a house they rented for $15.00 a month and did not see Morris again until the end of the war in 1945. She did not have a car and relied on a bicycle for transportation.
After the war Morris was discharged and for a time worked as a carpenter. Their second child, Kathy, was born in Corning in 1947. In 1950 Morris, like so many career military, was called back into the Army and sent to Korea. He was discharged again in 1952 and retired from the Army.
In 1954 they moved to Chico because of job opportunities for Morris and so that their children could attend college. A third child, Jeannie, was born in 1956 with severe medical problems that required permanent hospitalization for the rest of her 35 years of life. This deeply affected the family and led Ruth to become a foster parent for newborns that were being given up for adoption.
Ruth was a deeply religious person and was a member of the First Baptist Church in Corning and then in Chico. She sang in the choir and a trio that sang on a short lived religious radio program broadcast from the church in Corning.
Ruth was a skilled seamstress, knitter and quilter. She made everything from dolls and prom dresses for her daughter and granddaughters to quilts for family members and church bazaars.
Of all her many attributes Ruth was at her heart a private and very independent woman who continued to live by herself after her husband died in 1990. She lived by herself until a fall last year resulted in a move to Monterey Assisted Living Home here in Chico.
She loved and cared about her family more than anything and was the bedrock of the family. She was loved and respected by all who knew her and will be missed more than words can say.
At Ruth's request there will be no funeral services. The family will hold a remembrance of their mother at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Butte Home Health and Hospice in care of Newton-Bracewell Chico Funeral Home. You may share your thoughts and memories of Ruth online at nbcfh.com. Published in Chico Enterprise-Record on May 12, 2012.
Ruth's ashes are located next to her husband, Morris Bennett Wood.