Ruth E. Whitworth

Ruth E. Whitworth died November 21 at the VA Hospital in San Francisco. She was born in Toledo, OH before women were granted the right to vote, yet Ruth took on the world with bravery and tenacity. At a very early age she owned a beauty shop and purchased a Model A Ford. In 1943 she was in the first class of Navy WAVES sent to Alameda, CA to pack parachutes for the troops. Later she opened the first beauty salon on that base. In 1945 friends arranged a blind date for Ruth with a handsome and charismatic Marine, Eugene E. Whitworth, and they were soon married, creating a partnership that lasted until his death 60 years later.

In 1952 Ruth and her husband joined with friends to found the Great Western University for the goal of making studies in religion, mataphysics, philosophy, meditation, and communication available and affordable to all seekers. She and her husband traveled the world with friends and students. Her favorite destination was India, where her spirit bonded with Hindu values and traditions. For six decades Ruth invested much time and energy into leading the Great Western University, its successor organization the Great Western Brotherhood, and the Church of the Jade Sun.

Ruth and her husband considered their students, friends and clients to be family. She is also survived by her older brother and sister-in-law Paul and Betty Dutcher; nephew David Dutcher; and nieces Paula Walker and Janet Hoffpauir. She was preceded in death by her husband, parents Otto and Walla Dutcher, and older sister and brother-in-law Helen and Melvin Meister.

Friends, neighbors, and colleagues are invited to a memorial service led by ministers of the Church of the Jade Sun at the Marine's Memorial Club, 609 Sutter, San Francisco, on Saturday, January 19, 11:00 a.m.