Obituary: Jackson, Ruth Gellert
More than anything, Ruth will be remembered for her great capacity to love.
She was a single mother not by circumstance but through choice and passion, adopting daughter Heather and her brother Dalton and raising them as her own.
In 33 years as a day-surgery nurse at Deaconess, she earned the respect of returning patients who sought her tender care.
And so that others might follow in her footsteps, she endowed two scholarships at the Washington State University College of Nursing.
Ruth lived her life out loud, cheering for the Cougars while proudly wearing her crimson and gray … riding shotgun on an ATV at Priest Lake … gracefully skiing down the slopes at 49 Degrees North … singing and dancing in Ham on Regal … and enthusiastically attending the opera with the two most important men in her life, husband Darrell and father Max.
Ruth loved to travel, which gave outlet to her passion for photography.
She and Darrell took numerous trips to Mexico, Hawaii, New York and especially Europe.
Only two months before her passing, she and Darrell revisited Prague, from where her father Max emigrated as child.
Ruth was born to Max and Natalie Gellert of Bellevue, Washington, on St. Patrick’s Day in 1955.
She grew up in the Edmonds, Washington, area, graduating from Meadowdale High School in 1973.
From there, Ruth attended WSU, receiving a B.S.
in Nursing in 1978.
Ruth was predeceased by mother Natalie and father Max Gellert, sister Anne and stepmother Carol.
Surviving family members include her husband of 15 years, Darrell Jackson; daughter Heather; son Dalton; dearly loved grandsons Walker and Maverick; nephew Max J. Gellert (Jessica and son Jacob), and extended family siblings: CiCi Pilgrim (M.K.
Wright), Vicki Dodge (Mark), Chris Pilgrim, Charles Pilgrim and other beloved family.
Ruth’s family wishes to thank Cancer Care NW and Hospice of Spokane and its nurses for their tender and compassionate care.
A remembrance ceremony will be held Thursday, November 6, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Isabella Room at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane.
Discounted room rates are available, ask for the Ruth Gellert Jackson Remembrance rate.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift in Ruth’s name to: The WSU College of Nursing, PO Box 1495, Spokane, WA 99210 - The Ruth Gellert Jackson Scholarship Fund, Hospice of Spokane, PO Box 2215, Spokane, WA 99210.