Marlene Diane Ruff

Marlene Diane Ruff (née Steele)
August 13, 1933 ~ August 10, 2025

Marlene, also known by her nickname “Chickie”, was born as an only-child to Howard and Gladys (also known by her nickname “Glady”) Steele in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on August 13, 1933. Tragically, Marlene had an older half-brother, who died while she was still a young child while her father, Howard, died when she was 13. Howard was in the Vaudeville business in Vancouver and throughout British Columbia (B.C.). After Howard’s death, life was comprised of constant adjustments by “Glady” and “Chickie” until relocating to California. When Marlene was old enough in Vancouver BC, she became a legal secretary at a law firm. When, at 18, she was ready for change, she emigrated to San Francisco, stayed with her aunt & uncle on the ocean-facing (read: cold & foggy much of the Summer, yet very picturesque) Sunset District side of San Francisco to continue as a legal secretary in The City. Fairly soon afterwards, her mother, Glady, followed her daughter to California. On a blind date, Marlene’s cousins, John & Felicia Nicol, introduced Marlene to Lambert, a Sgt in the US Air Force duty-stationed on Mt. Tamalpais (across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, in Marin County). Three months later, on August 29, 1953, Marlene & Lambert were married in San Francisco. They continued to live there until a son was born in August 1954, then moved to a developing area across The Bay into a new house atop the hills in Richmond (i.e., the Hilltop neighborhood). While in that house, Marlene & Lambert added three daughters to the family of four children. Many of those years were busy raising four children but as they grew older, Marlene re-entered the work force, first as a legal secretary locally, then as a bank teller, then as an Executive Assistant for the Sr. Vice President of a prominent banking firm in Oakland, CA until her retirement about 1998. Marlene and Lambert (who, having already taken early retirement from AT&T in San Francisco, after 38 years) moved east of Sacramento, into a new house in the foothills on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, half-way to South Lake Tahoe. At about 20 years of retirement, his diagnosis required Lambert to move into a specialized care facility in 2017. Marlene stayed in the house until 2019, when she moved to Mount Angel, Oregon (just east of OR’s capital, Salem) to be near her middle daughter into the foothills of the western slope of the Cascade Mountains to concentrate on her hobbies of drawing, painting, and gardening.

Marlene’s love of Canada never wavered since her initial migration from BC, yet her passion and loyalty continually grew for the USA. In February 1961, Marlene became a Naturalized Citizen of the United States of America. None of us children … ever, never … knew as much US history as Mom did, and she never stopped trying to learn as much US history as possible. Yet, she never stopped using Canadian pronunciations, which constantly perplexed her children, eh.

Over all these years, having extended family living both in Canada and around the US, staying connected was extremely important to Marlene. Mom was a central figure among the extended families. In the days of handwritten postal letters and expensive long distance telephone charges, she kept in touch with relatives, both near and distant … both in terms of geographical distance and far-flung branches among the family trees. Living at home was like living in a Newsroom, with updates about relatives and friends, both close and far, being a continual topic of conversation. At 91, she could still install a printer and update her iPhone, which meant that she still tried to keep in touch with everyone.

Marlene (“Chickie’) passed away in her Mt. Angel, OR residence on Aug 10, 2025 … just three days shy of her 92nd birthday. Ironically, her husband of just shy of 69 years passed away 15 days prior to his 92nd birthday. Marlene (and Lambert) are survived by their four children, seven grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren (who knew her as “Chickie”, too).

Marlene will be remembered for her love of family, love of country (both Canada and USA), as being a guidepost and anchor for civility, duty, graciousness, for her passion for history (especially US and maritime histories), her admiration of different cultures, nationalities, heritage, ethnicities, and race, for her love of art, her love of animals (especially cats and goats), and of always puttering in her ever-changing garden. As a “rock” in the family garden, she will be missed.

After her cremation, Marlene now has a memorial plaque on the same large boulder adjacent to her late husband, Lambert, and near her mother, Gladys, within the Valley Oak Garden at Green Valley Cemetery in Rescue, CA (near their retirement home in El Dorado Hills, CA). Like Dad, Mom wanted it this way … leave space for others, let me enjoy time with you when [I] was alive, and “it feels so good to be outdoors.”