Ruth Gabriel

Ruth Ann Gabriel passed from this world to the next January 31st, 2024. She began her journey July 28, 1927 in Hartley, IA, born to Lemual and Cora Rickabaugh. Born on the cusp of the Great Depression, she learned from Lemual and Cora traits that sustained her through her life; love of learning, work ethic, and thrift. Ruth spent a lively childhood in Hartley with brothers Ted, Arnold, sisters Wilma and Dorothy and her favorite cousins Jack and Elaine. Ruth progressed through school in Hartley, working as the High School’s librarian through the New Deal Work study program, working for 25 cents an hour. She became her classes’ valedictorian but even in this accomplishment, Ruth told a story true to herself and her humility. She was a part of a class of that would have overwhelmed Hartley’s first grade classroom, so the class was divided by age, Ruth being part of the younger group who started the year after the older group. She claimed to have benefited from the smarter kids being in the older group, paving the way to become her classes’ top student. A beneficiary of an Iowa program that rewarded the state’s valedictorians tuition waivers to state colleges, Ruth attended Iowa State Teacher’s College earning a degree in Home Economics. She taught high school classes at Sloane, IA for a year, then continued her studies at the Colorado State College of Education, in Greeley, CO, earning a Master’s Degree in Home Economics. Despite her high grades in the academic arena, some family members who feature themselves outdoorsmen chided her for a B in canoeing to which she responded with a smile, “I could never get that darned canoe turned back right side up after we dumped it over.” Ruth’s next teaching job, at Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii, would launch her on another of her life’s great journeys as a wife and mother. In Hawaii, she met Lloyd Gabriel, Texan and WWII veteran, and a teacher at Kamehameha Boys School. They married June 5, 1953. She was with Lloyd until her passing, 70 years of sharing times together, bonded by shared love of their family, learning, and desire to see as much of the world as they could. Moving to White Salmon, WA and then to Bandon, OR, Ruth and Lloyd had two sons, Kekoa and Kimo. They gave their boys Hawaiian names because of their love of the Hawaiian Islands that brought them together from unlike backgrounds to what was always treasured by them as a special place. After a hiatus from teaching to care for her babies, Ruth attended college at Western Oregon State College and earned a degree in Elementary Education. From here sprang the passion of her professional life, teaching children to read, and imbuing them with educational and personal skills to start them down the path of education and personal fulfillment. Ruth taught two years in Clarkston, WA, a year in West Valley of Yakima, and completed her career in Yakima in 1987 after teaching at Gilbert, Adams, Stanton and Castlevale Elementary schools. To further her skills as a teacher Ruth spent summers at institutes in Mexico, England, and Florida. She was able to combine her love of travel, experiencing new places with her passion for teaching adding further to her depth of understanding and acceptance of others. This was perhaps the hallmark of Ruth’s travel through life, seeking knowledge and enlightenment to better herself and in so doing, bettering others. Ruth was a driving force behind the educational attainment of her family as well as its moral compass. After retirement, Ruth and Lloyd traveled the United States, visiting virtually every site of natural beauty and historical site in the nation. Among their favorite places were Niagara Falls, the Smithsonian Institute, Gettysburg and Monticello. But no place was loved more than their home in Selah on Ranchette Lane where they lived for 45 years. Over the years, Ruth and Lloyd maintained a cabin in Packwood where Ruth loved to walk in the woods, enjoying the climate and peace she found there. Another beloved place was their property near Republic, WA where Lloyd and Ruth camped with their sons which was the springboard for their lives of outdoor adventure and interest in the natural world. Ruth loved her grandchildren, Mitchell, Kellie Ann, Tate, Augustus, and Lela Ruth. Ruth became a great grandmother in 2020, welcoming Blaine and later Ellis into her family. She reveled in the accomplishments, adventures, misadventures of her grandchildren and was there to provide a hug, a band aid, or wisdom as it was needed. She was a constant that could be depended on, whether employing them to pick up pinecones, watching MASH, enjoying the ‘wild place,’ taking care of the animals, making her special ice cream cones or attending a family gathering, sooner of later the kids were gravitating to grandma. An appreciation that Ruth passed along to the grandkids was her love of animals, and her special friend Rudi, a beautiful chocolate lab that was Ruth’s constant companion during her days at Ranchette Lane. Ruth believed deeply in the ethical treatment of all creatures, any animal that passed by her home was treated with kindness and often with a meal and water. Ruth supported the mission of the Humane Society with donations and her personal advocacy for humane and ethical treatment of animals. Our family, as Ruth would have wanted to do personally, extend our appreciation to the staff at the Terraces at Summitview (formerly Living Care) for the care, kindness, friendship, and quality of life she received there over that past ten years that Ruth and Lloyd have lived there. Ruth was able to live an active and robust life in a comfortable and safe environment. Dr. George Garfein, Ruth’s long time doctor and friend provided her with excellent medical care and his unique mixture of humor and wisdom always made a visit enjoyable. We extend our gratitude to Memorial Home Health Services for making Ruth’s final weeks comfortable and dignified. We especially thank Valley Hills Funeral Home and Funeral Director Joe Denham for their thoughtfulness guiding us through the process of Ruth arriving at her final earthly destination. Ruth will be inurned at the Veterans Administration Cemetery at Medical Lake, WA. She has requested there not be a ceremony for her until she is joined at Medical Lake by her husband Lloyd so their passage can be celebrated as they lived, inseparable, over their long and estimable life together. In lieu of a ceremony or flowers and to honor Ruth’s life, she would appreciate a donation to the Humane Society. With a mixture of sadness and celebration Ruth Ann Gabriel, we bid you farewell for now. You will be missed but your legacy forever remembered as a life well lived. A life lived the way you imagined it, advancing confidently in the direction of your dreams, every action, word and thought done in consideration of those you loved and who loved you. Ruth is survived by her husband of 70 years, Lloyd Gabriel, sons Kekoa (Grace) and Kimo (Judi), her grandchildren Mitchell (Neala), Kellie Ann (Zach Niehues), Tate (Haley), Augustus (Ellie) Lela Ruth, and great grandchildren Blaine and Ellis Niehues. She just missed the birth of another great grand baby (Tate and Haley) in the next several days. Those you leave behind will strive to live up to example you created for us over the course of your magnificent life-you live on in us forever. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Ruth Gabriel, please visit our flower store.