Yolo County CA Archives Obituaries.....Anderson, Ruth Edlefsen     February 13, 2006
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K T bluewolf@onemain.com February 19, 2006, 12:07 am

The Woodland Daily Democrat
Anderson, Ruth Edlefsen    
 
Ruth Edlefsen Anderson, 89, died Feb. 13, 2006, following a stroke. A resident 
of the University Retirement Community since 2000, she will be missed as a 
sister, mother, grandmother, aunt, teacher, colleague, advisor and friend. Her 
sense of humor and dazzling smile were intact through her last week of life, 
during which her three daughters and their children were able to say goodbye 
in one final visit. As was her nature, she died in a peaceful, dignified 
manner.

A champion of women's rights, Ruth was perhaps best known as the Dean of Women 
at the University of California at Davis for 20 years. She was a feminist and 
an activist from the beginning, teaching her own children and undergraduate 
students to consider all sides of a situation and to support the rights of 
those less fortunate. During the early 1970s, she helped found the original 
Women's Center on campus (now the Women's Resources and Research Center), as 
well as the Network for Graduate and Faculty Women. During her tenure as Dean, 
she was a force behind the implementation of Title IX at UC Davis, the federal 
law prohibiting discrimination against female athletes. She was a source of 
inspiration, guidance and assistance to countless women students and 
contributed to the campus's awareness and sensitivity in regard to women's 
issues.

Born to Niels Edlef Edlefsen and Carrie Brown Edlefsen in Logan, Utah, on Oct. 
11, 1916, Ruth attended Davis High School briefly and graduated from high 
school in Logan, Utah. She attended UC Berkeley, where she received her B.S. 
in Education. In a lecture she gave in 1983 titled, "Anything is Possible," 
she said she had no concrete ideas about what to do after graduating. 

"I had a dream about being a Mata Hari, or at least doing something I'd not 
tried. I was searching for something elusive," Ruth remembered. Fate stepped 
in when her father was offered a job at MIT in the Physics department. It was 
there that this liberal art major became interested in the development of 
sonar and she realized that there are always options available in life. Her 
tenet became: "Be willing to look at alternatives, courageous enough to take 
chances."

In 1942, she married Robert H. Anderson, a UC Davis graduate who had joined 
the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a fighter pilot in WW II. After the war, 
the couple lived in Visalia, where Ruth was a teacher. With their three 
daughters, Kris, Katie and Candy, they moved to Davis in 1953, where her 
sister Elaine Edlefsen Cooper already lived with her husband, Dr. Tom Cooper, 
and their four children. The families shared Christmas, Easter picnics and egg 
hunts at the Putah Creek Canyon, summers in the pool, and vacations at the 
Cooper cabin in Strawberry when the Andersons lived in the 800 block of 
Anderson Road and the Coopers lived on the corner of Eighth and A streets. 

Ruth taught elementary and junior high school in Woodland and Davis, where she 
began the HAPS Program (High Aptitude Potential Students). Later, she became 
Vice Principal at Davis Junior High. In the early 1960s, she also taught 
Spanish on the local educational channel, KVIE in Sacramento. 

After serving as Assistant Dean of Women under Susan B. Regan, Ruth became the 
Dean of Women. This title was later renamed Associate Dean of Students. As she 
described it, "my days are filled with students who come to me for many 
reasons, both academic and social. I try to be as honest as possible." She 
credited her ability to connect with young adults to her daughters, who taught 
her to change with the times.

As Dean, Ruth was instrumental in the establishment of Alternatives in Birth 
Control at the Student Health Center, as well as the formation of a Women's 
Caucus. Then-Chancellor James H. Meyer charged Ruth to head a task force on 
the status of women at UC Davis. Her commitment to women's issues resulted in 
women receiving unprecedented opportunities for participation and advancement 
in both academics and athletics. The changes Ruth affected laid the groundwork 
for many of the programs, resources and laws that benefit women throughout the 
UC system today.

She was an active member of the Prytanean Society, a collegiate women's honor 
society, and the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She was also a strong supporter of 
Hammerskjold House, International House and the Cal Aggie Christian 
Association. She served as Grand Marshal of the Picnic Day Parade in 1977. 
Upon her retirement in 1987, a bench was dedicated to her on the Quad across 
from her office at South Hall, with the Cal Aggie Band playing at the 
ceremony. In 2000, UC Davis honored her with the naming one of the five courts 
at the Colleges at LaRue residential complex. This is now known as the Ruth E. 
Anderson Court. 

Ruth remained very active in her retirement. She enjoyed visiting with family, 
attending lectures and cultural events as well as her membership on many 
committees at University Retirement Center. She traveled to Scandinavia, 
Russia and Mexico. In 2004, Ruth suffered a stroke that impaired her ability 
to speak, thus limiting her participation, but not her enthusiasm for the 
University Retirement Community Inquiring Minds Committee, a community group 
she helped to create. This committee continues to educate by scheduling 
lectures and discussions at the URC. Ruth never stopped learning, taking up 
bird-watching from her window during the last year of her life. Her love of 
reading, classical music and opera continued until the week before she died. 
Ruth also relished the time she spent with family and friends and she 
continued to attend social functions, including a baby shower held last month 
for her great-granddaughter Sydney Lyn Pyeatt, who is due to arrive in March. 
Ruth's life was filled with love and laughter. She took great delight in all 
of her family, frequently speaking about her daughters, grandchildren and 
great-grandchildren with visitors and friends. 

"Love is the answer to all our problems," Ruth once said. "All too often we 
deny it; we deprive ourselves of the affection we deserve. When I give love 
and understanding, I have it returned a thousand-fold." 

Ruth is survived by her sister, Elaine Edlefsen Cooper of Davis, and her 
daughters, Kristine Anderson Pyeatt of Tijeras, New Mexico, Katherine Anderson 
Dixon of Solana Beach, and Candace Janet Anderson of Davis. She is also 
survived by her former husband, Robert H. Anderson of San Diego. She is 
survived by six grandchildren, Deborah (Pyeatt) Anderson of Placerville, 
Jennifer (Hanson) Sewing of St. Louis, Mo., Michael Pyeatt of Davis, Clint 
Pyeatt of Albuquerque, N.M., and Allison Dixon and Lindsey Dixon both of 
Solana Beach. Her four great-grandchildren are Christopher Sewing, Selby 
Anderson, Zachary Anderson and Katherine Sewing. She is also survived by 
numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, Feb. 25, at 2 p.m. at the University 
Retirement Center auditorium, with a reception following. The family has 
established an endowed fund at UC Davis in Ruth E. Anderson's honor. In lieu 
of flowers, please make donations to: UCD Foundation, 1480 Drew Avenue, Davis, 
CA 95616. Please make a note that the donation is for the 'Ruth E. Anderson 
Endowed Fund.'

Ruth will be missed by the many students, friends and family whose lives she 
touched. She left an indelible mark on humanity. In her 1983 lecture, she 
ended with, "Look at me: I am not an academician, I am not a theologian; I'm 
just **

**Obituary posting abruptly ended there.  
 
Published in the Daily Democrat on 2/18/2006.  


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