Ruth M. Eide

Ruth Myhra Eide went home peacefully to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ after a long fight with Parkinsons on September 21st, 2022 at 11:30pm at the age of 81, in the home of her daughter, Kirsten, in Mount Vernon, WA.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Ronald Lars Eide, parents Torstein (Ted) Myhra, Borgny (Peggy) Myhra, her brother Earling Myhra, her grandparents, her Auntie Karen Berg and her beloved dog Peppa.

She is survived by her sister-in-law Ellen Kolnes, four children, Kirsten Mai (Timothy) Early of Mount Vernon, WA, Lisa (Scott) Blake, of Folsom, CA, California, Ruth Ellen (Michael) McDonough of Camano Island, WA, and Erik (Stefanie) Eide of Ponder, TX. Eleven grandchildren, Milena (Samuel), Torstein (Sara), Selah (Josiah), Nicole (Kevin), John (Catherine), Kaitlin, Ian (Bri), Hailey, Isaac, Israel, and Elizabeth. Twelve great grandchildren, Maelle, Elinor, Caedmon, Tesla, Dax, Korben, Titus, Isaiah, Jonathan, Leona, Melita, and Samara, and her many beloved cousins, nieces, nephews and other extended family and friends all over the United States and in Norway.

Ruth was born on February 17, 1941 in Chicago, IL and married Ronald Eide in the same city on January 29th, 1960. She also lived in Bensenville, IL, Lombard, IL, Moss Beach, CA, Montara, CA, Woodinville, WA, Anacortes, WA, and Folsom, CA, Ponder, TX, and Mt Vernon, WA. She went to Steinmetz College Prep High School and earned a paralegal degree at the College of San Mateo.

Ruth worked in Seattle, WA as a paralegal for many years, spending her commuting time praying and sketching the faces of the people she saw on the bus. Ruth was always adventurous and had a great sense of humor. When she fell out of the raft on a white water rafting tour and almost fell over a waterfall with her grandkids, she instructed them not to tell their grandfather or he wouldn’t let her go out in a raft again. Ruth liked to look put together, with her eyebrows drawn in and her clothing in style, no matter her age. She did not sit idle, and her grandchildren fondly remember her saying, “keeping house is easier if you always do at least one chore a day.”

Ruth’s artistic interests spanned beyond sketching to many forms of art, music and creative expression. She loved to dance with her husband Ron, garden, cook and bake, play piano, ukulele, guitar and sing. Ruth was also proficient at painting, stained glass, quilting, and knitting, sewing, and enjoyed traveling, especially her trip to Israel in 2012 with her friend of over 40 years, Nancy Walz, which was the only trip she cared about citing on her Facebook.

Ruth traveled as much as possible with Ron as empty nesters, and it was one of their favorite things to do together. Ruth enjoyed being a candy striper with her best friend from grammar school, Ellen, who ended up being her sister-in-law. One of her favorite pastimes was being with her family. In her last month of life, Ruth was blessed to see all of her daughters, her son and two sons in law in person, as well as many grandchildren and great grandchildren, and had the pleasure of a visit to Idaho to see her best friend and sister in law Ellen and her extended family too. Ruth even tried to plan another secret trip to Israel while she was on hospice. Ruth’s love for Jesus was an intentional priority throughout her life, whether it was teaching the international program called Bible Study Fellowship in Woodinville, WA for at least a decade, being a chaplain in Anacortes, WA hospital, serving in every church she attended by singing in their choirs, praying for her children and grandchildren, daily Bible study, and having a faith in God that carried her through the hardest times in her life, sustained her in her weaknesses, and left a spiritual legacy for her sons, daughters, sons and daughters-in-law, grandsons and granddaughters, and all who knew her. Her trust in God’s faithfulness was so strong that, even in her last days, when we could barely hear her, she was softly singing hymns under her breath. Her desire was to glorify God with her life, like the Apostle Paul wrote when he said, “All glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20.