Ruth Norine Houghton

1915 - 2017

Ruth Norine Houghton was born in Sedro Woolley, Washington July 6, 1915 and left on a new passage February 21, 2017. Ruth was the daughter of Henry and Nora Thompson. Graduating from Everett High School, she met and married the love of her life, Elgar Houghton. Their lives remained tightly entwined with Elgar's older sister, Corva and her husband, Hugo Lindblom. WWII strengthened the relationship as Elgar served with the Coast Guard in the European Theatre and Ruth went to work for the Navy. Their only son, Gareth went to live with his Lindblom family where he bonded with his older cousin, Suzanne and his younger cousin, Hugo. They remain cousin/siblings to this day as do later arrivals, Richard and Jane. Ruth's family reconstituted after the war as a part of, "The greatest generation." Richard Lindblom noted, "With the passage of our fathers and now Corva and Ruth, our family has seen the last of the greatest generation. We continue to drive on their roads and bridges and enjoy the benefits of their dams. They truly were, the greatest!" From that time on, Ruth was fully employed as office manager for Johnson and Thorpe Furniture and later Al Larsen Painting. Concurrently, she continued her role as mother, wife, grandmother and transcriptionist for Elgar's prose and poetry productions. Just a few years after her retirement, she lost her husband, Elgar in November 1983 after fifty years of marriage. However, that was not the end of her life... After grieving the loss of her husband and returning to the world, Ruth had proposals of marriage. Taking stock of her life, she reasoned, "I am tired of washing, ironing, cleaning and cooking!" Thus, with a renewed energy for life, she emerged as a social butterfly, joining the senior dancing circuit, anchored at Normanna Lodge, sons of Norway, in Everett, Washington. Over the next 25 years, she wore out several pair of dancing shoes as well as a few dancing partners. She traveled, kept track of her son, grandchildren, great grandchildren and their children! At age 93, Ruth retired to Sanger, California, joining her son, Dr. Gareth Houghton and his wife, Wan. She spent the last days of her life at Render Care in Clovis, where she enjoyed the company of four other seniors before she left after a journey of 101 years. Ruth leaves a tremendous legacy, to include her son and his wife; grandchildren, Mark Houghton and his wife, Masako, Brad Houghton and his wife, Karen, Blake Anderson and his, wife Laura, Alisa Stevens and her husband, Randy; great grandchildren, Kris Houghton and Maria Montoya and their children, Emilio, Alma and Paolo; Alex Houghton, Matt Houghton and Jordan Houghton; Joshua, Asher and Caleb Stevens. With only two exceptions, all of Ruth's adult heirs have served in the military. Ruth's passage was preceded by older siblings, Chester Thompson and Winifred Sandmo. She is survived by her younger sister, 100 year old Mary McDonald and her children, Barbara, Eugene and Amy. Ruth leaves her estate to her heirs in the form of RHEAP, (Ruth Houghton Educational Advancement Program) inviting future generations to pursue academic and vocational goals.