Mary Ruth Ramberg
June 19, 1936-July 13, 2018
Palo Alto, California
Submitted by Jennifer Ramberg

Mary Ruth Ramberg (“Ruth”), a resident of Palo Alto, California for 48 years, died tragically and unexpectedly on July 13, 2018, from complications with pneumonia following knee surgery. She was a young and spirited 82. Ruth was born in Topeka, Kansas, where she spent her childhood. She moved to San Francisco to join her older sister Joanne when she was 21. Ruth met her husband, August Julius (“AJ”), in San Francisco, and they were married in 1961. They had two children and moved to Palo Alto in 1970. While raising their children Ruth attended Foothill Junior College as an undergraduate student and then transferred to Stanford University where she obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s in English Literature. She became a successful technical writer in Silicon Valley. A loving and generous woman, Ruth treasured her time with family and friends. She nurtured her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews as individuals with unique qualities to offer the world. She loved attending Shakespeare festivals in Ashland, Oregon, had a passion for mysteries, read the S.F. Chronicle, the Palo Alto Weekly, and the Daily Post devotedly, and was a sustaining member of KQED. Ruth was politically savvy and opinionated, had a wry sense of humor, and loved a good guffaw. After her husband died in 2001, Ruth raised the couple’s Boston Terrier puppy, Nina, who remained her faithful companion for 16 years. The two enjoyed many dog-walking adventures in and around Palo Alto. She was always happy to stop and chat with fellow dog owners and she was especially fond of walking on Main Street in Los Altos and California Avenue in Palo Alto. Ruth made a number of friends and had fun volunteering for the Mitchell Park Library when it was temporarily housed at Cubberley Community Center. She was a loving, generous, witty, intelligent, resilient, and resourceful friend, neighbor, wife, mother, aunt, niece, and grandmother. She was looking forward to many more years with her “new knee.” She is deeply missed. Ruth was preceded in death by her husband AJ in 2001, after 40 years of marriage. Ruth is survived by her aunt Emma Lou Brophy of Spokane, Washington, her sister Joanne Barragan of San Mateo, her brother Charles Stanley Bryan of Lawrence, Kansas, her children Jennifer Ramberg and David Ramberg, her stepdaughters Karen Ramberg and Sonja Shumaker, her nieces and nephews Debra Barragan, Scott Barragan, Bruce Barragan, and Tracy Barragan, and her grandchildren Danielle, Brooke and Harper Ramberg, Sabrina Oudin, Brigit Lawrence-Gomez, and August and Olivia Ramberg-Gomez.