Obituary of Ruth Ann Toomer

Ruth Ann Toomer

November 25, 1931 - April 5, 2018

Ruth Ann Toomer (Wardleigh, Stoddard) 86, peacefully returned to our Lord in heaven on Thursday, April 5, 2018 in Portland, Oregon where she had succumbed to complications from internal bleeding.  She had been airlifted by Lifeflight for treatment there from her home in Richland, WA.  She left us peacefully while being comforted by her loving family and the wonderful Chaplaincy at Adventist Hospital.

Ruth was born in Ogden, Utah to Hyrum and Grace Stoddard on November 25, 1931.  Married at age 18 to Robert Wardleigh Sr. in Ogden, Utah whom she has three wonderful boys, Richard, Robert, and Roger.  They divorced in 1959.

Ruth went on to in 1960 to marry Gary Joseph Toomer, Sr., son of Joseph and Vanona (Dallof) of Ogden Terrace, Utah, and joined him at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, NM where together they had 3 children, Gary Joseph Jr. (Toomer) and Julie A (Keller) and Little Johnny who passed at birth.

At the end of Gary's Military Service, in 1965, they returned home to live in Roy, Utah where they were blessed late in life with a beautiful angel, Angela Christine (Winston) in 1970.  Shortly after, together with their 3 children, they relocated to Vancouver, Washington on a work-related transfer of her husband.  She was grateful for having her Brother, Robert (Bob), and wife Jody, who was in Longview with their family, close by in the early years of her families' relocation to Washington.  It helped greatly in settling there, away from family.

Vancouver is where Ruth lived out most of her life working as a Day Care Provider for over 35 years where, along with her daughter, Angie, she with the most loving heart and a passion for fun and youthfulness helped raise hundreds of children who still call her Grandma today.

She most treasured her return vacations back to her first home in Utah as she often did, until injuries the last few years of her life prevented her from doing so.  There she would visit with her eldest son, Richard and wife Janis and their 5 children, and with Robert and Roger and her siblings, Georgina (deceased), Arlene and husband, Clyde Daley, Shirley Mosher, Jeanette Carter (Arizona) and Hyrum Stoddard and wife Sharleen, and all the other members of Ruth and Gary's large extended family who still call Utah home.

In 2007 Ruth followed her husband to Richland  when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's to live out the remainder of her life with her daughter, Julie, son-in-law, David, and grandaughter, Alycia.

Ruth would spend her remaining years traveling back to Vancouver every month where she would be with her daughter, Angie, her husband, Jason, and grandchildren, Logan and Layton in Vancouver, and her son, Gary, his wife, Marvie and son Chris in Ridgefield, also with her grandchildren, Christopher and Victoria Adams, and Kristie Loazda Keller) and husband, Ben and her great grandchildren, Kruz Lozada and Josiah Toomer, all whom adored her and provided her with a life of laughter and happiness.

She will most miss the upcoming wedding of her grandaughter, Alycia to her Fiance, David Champoux and says, "she will forever toast their loving union in heaven with many blessings from above".

In addition to her siblings above, Ruth leaves behind her husband, six children and their spouses along with 18 grandchildren and 31 great grandchildren, all whom were her pride and joy in life.  Ruth will be dearly missed by all who knew her.

Our family chain is broken, nothing seems the same, but as GOD calls us one by one, the chain will link again.

A Memorial Service in her honor will be held in Vancouver, WA in early summer when the remaining members of her family, from her home town in Utah are available to join.

She will be cremated at Cascadia and inurned until she is put to rest with husband atop beautiful Mt. Scott in Portland, OR at the Willamette National Cemetery.

Memorial Donations may be made to Lifeflight, Pendleton, OR.  A Memorial Page has been set up for remembrance, messages and condolence from family and friends on this website.