Ruth Ann Bennett

Seasoned traveler, loyal friend, and independent woman Ruth Ann Bennett passed away on February 19, 2020 in Edmonds, Washington, following a long struggle with cancer.

Ruth Ann was born on May 29, 1937 in Hancock, Michigan to George Baggley and Herma Albertson Baggley. At the time, George was managing the establishment of Isle Royale National Park. Ruth Ann's early life was spent as a "National Parks brat" in many western states. She maintained a love for the National Parks throughout her life—as soon as Washington approved a National Parks license plate, Ruth Ann was among the first to get one—and promoted her parents' legacy. She was particularly proud of her mother Herma Albertson Baggley who was the Parks Service's first female Ranger-Naturalist and co-author of Plants of Yellowstone.

After an itinerant childhood, Ruth Ann attended Iowa State University where she joined the Delta Delta Delta sorority. There she managed the sorority house and began her lifelong habit of acquiring sisters. Tri Delt sorority sisters maintained close contact for more than 60 years, arranging frequent reunions and supporting one another from afar as they scattered across the country.

Ruth Ann graduated in 1959 with a degree in Institution Management and then began a long and successful career in school food service in both Washington and California. For the final almost 20-year stretch of her career, Ruth Ann worked as a specialist in the Child Nutrition Section of the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. In every job she had, she made fast friends.

Ruth Ann and her colleagues formed a reputation for challenging their bosses and the state bureaucracy and hence called themselves "the Mafia". The group met regularly for carefully planned dinners, kept in touch after they retired, and became close to one another's families.

While Ruth Ann was having a successful career traveling around the state inspecting school district kitchens, she deepened her relationship with second cousin Ann Albertson Deal in Wenatchee just about the same time that, in Boise, Ruth Ann's 85-year old father married his 75 year old neighbor. That neighbor was Gwendolyn Shepard Deal, mother of Ann Albertson Deal's husband, Dr. Fred Deal. So Ruth Ann acquired "wicked stepbrother" Fred Deal and "wicked stepsister" Patricia Deal Dodson and picked up a bunch of younger cousins/ nieces & nephews who referred to her as Aunt Ruth Ann. This deepened connection led to annual cousin gatherings at Warm Lake Idaho with relatives on both sides.

Since the late 1970s, Ruth lived in the Mill Creek, Washington community where she created a family with her close friends. She joined PEO, and frequently said that she wished her mother Herma had known that she "was a PEO." The women in PEO and the overlapping Tuesday Morning Sewing Group became increasingly close after Ruth Ann retired.

In retirement, Ruth Ann traveled to all seven continents and kept bucket lists of the trips she wanted to take. She traveled both to see the sights and to see people. Her friends span the globe and can't quite believe that the adventurer they knew will no longer be visiting them.

In Ruth Ann's last days, just before the Covid closures of early 2020, people came to bid farewell. Though it was a sad time, Ruth Ann's many circles of friends and family finally intersected as sorority sister met PEO sister met "wicked" stepsister.

Ruth Ann's estate was distributed among scholarships established in her parents' honor and causes related to the National Parks. Her legacy is boosting the early careers of other independent spirits.

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