Ruth Gibb Barron
Ruth Alison (Gibb) Barron, age 100 years & 9 months, died in Stuart, Florida, on November 15,
2017, of complications from a recent hip surgery.
Born in Cottonwood, Minnesota, February 25, 1917, to Raymond & Huldah (Pettersen) Gibb, the
second of three children, Ruth spent her childhood and early schooling in the small farming town
of Cottonwood. Her family moved to Minneapolis in 1931 as the Depression set in, and she attended
Marshall High School there, graduating as Co-Valedictorian in 1934. She graduated from the
University of Minnesota in 1938 with a Bachelor of Science degree, Cum Laude, in Medical
Technology.
As a medical technician she worked for the University of Minnesota before moving to Freeport,
Illinois, in 1939 for work in a private medical practice. In Freeport, she met her future husband,
Walter "Bill" J. Barron of Omaha, Nebraska. They were married March 21, 1942, at the home of
her favorite aunt, Anna (Pettersen) Laingen, in Cottonwood, MN, shortly before Bill entered the
Army and was posted to Iceland.
After her marriage she lived in Minneapolis, Omaha (Nebraska), Freeport, Elmhurst and Arlington
Heights (Illinois), before moving to Encino, California, in 1953. There she raised four children. She
was a founding member and Elder of the First Presbyterian Church of Encino, and the leader of
Encino's Girl Scout Troop 1656 for twelve years. Ruth was an active PTA member of Encino
Elementary School, Portola Junior High School (Tarzana, CA) and Birmingham Junior & Senior
High Schools (Van Nuys, CA). She also shared her family and home with American Field Service
students from Finland and France.
In 1970, Ruth returned to her medical technology career as a laboratory technician at the Valley
Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, California, retiring in 1987.
In 1963, she moved with her family to Northridge, CA, and lived there over thirty years, until the
1994 Northridge earthquake severely damaged her home. Shortly afterward she relocated to Florida
to live with her son Richard and his wife Carol, first in West Palm Beach and then at Solaris Assisted
Living in Stuart, Florida. She has been a faithful member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Port
Salerno where her daughter-in-law is the Rector.
Ruth enjoyed reading and traveling to visit her children in California, New York City and Munich,
Germany. With her husband Bill she made numerous trips to Europe visiting England, Scotland,
France, Germany, Austria, Norway, Italy, Finland and Russia.
She is preceded in death by her husband in 1991, her younger brother Donald in 2006 and her older
brother Clark in 2007. She is survived by her 3 sons and 1 daughter and their spouses: Thomas of
New York City; Richard & Carol of Stuart, Florida; Georgia & Axel of Munich, Germany; and Frank
& Kathie of Corning, California, as well as 9 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.
Interment will be at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers a donation be made in her name to St. Luke's Episcopal
Church, Port Salerno, Florida.