Ruth Jacobs

Ruth E. Jacobs Born in 1930 in Dubuque, Iowa, Ruth passed away at home in Burlingame on October 29, 2010 after a courageous battle with breast cancer. Raised in small Mississippi river towns in Minn. and Wis., she learned her traditional midwestern values there. Proud of her heritage, she was a direct lineal descendant of Edward Winslow, a Mayflower Pilgrim and governor of the Plymouth Colony. Ruth graduated from St. Francis School of Nursing in La Crosse, Wis. The nurse at Michigan's Camp Nahelu in 1952, she met her husband, Robert, a counselor there. Ruth became head nurse on the orthopedic ward of Northwestern's Wesley Memorial Hospital. Ruth and Bob were married in Chicago in 1954. Bob joined the army, and upon discharge in 1961 the family moved to Burlingame. Ruth was Bob's pediatric medical assistant while nurturing her family and cultivating her prize-winning garden. Ruth was a Burlingame community activist, and received the Burlingame Citizen of the Year Award in 2008. A trailblazer, she was Burlingame's first woman planning commissioner, serving for 23 years and as chairperson for five terms. Ruth was elementary and middle school PTA president, co-founder of the Burlingame Historical Society, president of the Burlingame Homeowner's Assoc. and a member of Peninsula Temple Sholom. She loved her country, served on the Republican Central Committee and worked tirelessly on many elections. Ruth's mottos were: Be positive. Stay active. Make do. She was an exceptional, accomplished and extraordinary person and will be missed greatly. She is survived by her beloved and adoring husband, Robert, daughters Victoria Jacobs and Lauren Jacobs Black, son-in-law John Black, her brothers John (Judy) and Louis (Carole), and many loving friends. A tree will be planted in Ruth's memory at Burlingame City Hall. Read her complete obituary at: http://tributes.com/show/Ruth-Jacobs-89691947. Memorial donations can be made to the Burlingame Historical Society Museum Fund, P.O. Box 144, Burlingame, CA 94010, or the Historic Winslow House Association, Attn: Mark Schmidt, P.O. Box 531, Marshfield, MA 02050.