Ruth Marie (Nixon) Loofbourrow passed away Monday Morning, March 31, 2014, she was 86.
Ruth was born and raised in Pomona, California and was friends of the family since at least junior high (Fremont). Ruth and Cousin Elsie Johnson both graduated from Pomona High School in 1946.
Ruth’s first job was at Kresses, Pomona, CA; later, she was employed by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., Pomona office.
Elsie introduced Ruth to Vercill via a photograph she had sent Vercill while he was in the Navy during WW-II. Vercill was taken back by all the interest the girls in that photo were getting from his fellow sailors. He but an abrupt end to all of the sailors thinking about Ruth by stating that she was ‘hands off’ as that was the ‘girl he was going to marry’. They were married July 24, 1948 at the Trinity Methodist Chapel, Pomona, CA. The ceremony was performed by Rev. John Jennings, pastor of the Church of Christ, Pomona, CA. Ruth was 20 years old and Vercill was 27.
Ruth’s maternal grandparents were pioneers in the Pomona Valley. (Her grandfather was born in Denmark.) They came to Pomona before 1889. Ruth’s mother, Mabel C. (Hansen) Nixon was born in Pomona in 1889.
Ron Snow lived next to Ruth’s aunt and uncle, her mom’s oldest sister Annie Cappers. Ron used to play on the Cappers old covered wagon when he was young. Ruth remembers that her aunt and uncle said they used that covered wagon to go to Yosemite in about 1914 – it was a several month’s trip for them.
The photo of Ruth and Vercill, with Andy and Debbie was taken about 1985..
Note from Nancy:
My first recollection of Aunt Ruth was when I was six years old. I got to stay with Aunt Ruth and Uncle Vercill during the time Ron was born (mothers stayed in the hospital longer in those days than they do now). While I was there, Aunt Ruth made me several little dresses. I still remember the flowered prints! Since it was August and they had a big garden, I had to learn to eat squash. YUCK! I hated the squishy vegetable! Yet they both encouraged me to eat it by mixing it with mashed potatoes, which I dearly loved. Because I respected and adored my aunt and uncle so much, I let them believe that I thought the mixture was delicious, but it really wasn’t. The funny thing is that now that I’m an adult, I love squash, and every time I eat it, I think of Auth Ruth and Uncle Vercill.
That Christmas after Ron was born in August, Aunt Ruth was especially happy to give me a special gift. The box was large, and I was excited to open it, so I turned it this way and that. But when I did that, Aunt Ruth exclaimed loudly, “Oh! I just ironed them!” When I opened the box, I was delighted to find several tiny doll dresses, all of which matched the dresses she had made for me in the summer. There are more stories about her exceptional giving nature, but these two always come to mind. Even a week before she passed, she demonstrated her unselfish and giving nature when I walked into her bedroom and saw her lying there helpless and in pain. The second she saw me, though, she weakly exclaimed, “NANCY!” Then she said, with a smile and twinkle in her eye, “Let me give you a hug!” However, she was too weak to even lift her arm up to my shoulder, so I did it for her, and she gave me the longest and dearest hug, a hug I will always remember from the most gentle and loving person I’ve ever known.
