When Ruth Elaine Kvinsland was born Saturday, May 8, 1943, in Bremerton, WA, when gas was .21 a gallon. She died December 2, 2019, at Harborview Hospital in Seattle, from injuries she received on Thanksgiving Day when her wheelchair took a wrong turn. Ironically, Thanksgiving week of 2013 was when she suffered a stroke during brain surgery and was then confined to that wheelchair.
Her family moved to Port Townsend in the spring of 1949, and she graduated high school in 1961. Peninsula Jr. College opened that year and Ruth attended with several of her classmates. The adventures she had in that one year were discussed and laughed over for the rest of her life. She went to work at the PT Medical Clinic on Water Street when there were only four doctors in residence. Plut, Schaill, Bridges, and Crist. She loved that job and stayed there for 22 years. She took a break for 8 years and then went to work as a unit secretary in Jefferson General Hospital’s ER for another 15 years. She had one son, John Kvinsland, from her marriage to Lonnie, which ended in divorce.
The notation under Ruth’s picture in the high school annual said: Chuck full of fun and neat as a pin. And she was full of fun too! She was active in the high school alumni association and often hosted her own class at their yearly get togethers at her home. Ruth loved gardening, collecting beach glass, and dancing to rock and roll. Her favorite movie was ‘Gone with the Wind’ and the apples of her eye were her grandchildren, Robert and Sissy. She followed their sports achievements avidly and attended every game she could.
She is survived by her son, John and his wife, Jodi; grandchildren Robert and Jolene; her brother, Richard, and his wife, Helena. Nephew Rich Stapf, Jr and his wife, Bev; and niece, Tiffany Ryan. Her parents, Fred and Violette Stapf, preceded her in death. Services are to be held at Grace Lutheran Church, 1120 Walker St, Port Townsend, WA on January 19, at 2 p.m.
