Obituary of Ruth Adella Hodges

Ruth Adella (Hall) Hodges passed away from a stroke on December 6 at Country Villa East nursing home in Watsonville. She had been a resident of Scotts Valley from 1962 to 2008. She was born in San Jacinto and started life on a remote homestead in Blythe, California. When she started school, her family moved to a farm in Perris, California, though they moved to Hilmar when she started high school. Her family bought a farm South of Denair (near Turlock) soon after. Ruth finished her education with an AA degree in business from Modesto Junior College. In 1939, she married Clarence E. Hodges, also of Denair. They lived at first in Modesto before moving to Berkeley after the birth of their first child, Ronald C. Hodges. Clarence worked at first as a carpenter and roofing contractor before beginning his lifelong career as a construction estimator and manager. In Berkeley, they had their second child, Nancy E. Hodges. In 1952 the family moved to Redwood City, and moved in 1962 to Scotts Valley. Up until her senior years, Ruth had a lovely alto singing voice and sang in her church choir performing many solos. Since her move to Scotts Valley, she was very active in the First Congregational Church in Santa Cruz where she decorated the social hall for after service refreshments and special occasions and helped with the serving and cleanup. During Christmas, she would also decorate every room in her house with decorations including all sorts of figurines, ornaments, candles, and needlework. Ruth was preceded in death by her husband Clarence Hodges and her son, Ronald Hodges. She is survived by her daughter, Nancy Hodges; grandchildren, Shern Jauhal and Leila Jones-Kieffer; step-grandchildren Ace Bower and Tracy Scibetta; four great-grandchildren; and two step-great-grandchildren. According to her wishes, she was cremated, and her ashes will be buried at the First Congregational Church in Santa Cruz. The memorial service will be held at the church on Saturday, December 22, at 1 PM. The church is located at 900 High Street in Santa Cruz. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the First Congregational Church Memorial Fund.