Ruth Den Adel
Ruthy’s spirit and soul flew out of her family room in Noblecliff on May 4. She had been trying to walk out for a week, even though she was paralyzed from her lung cancer moving into her spinal cord.
Her talent and taste for decorating can be appreciated in her home in Noblecliff, in the Sea Breeze at the Langley Marina which she managed with a flair for 12 years and in her co-op, La’Mourita, in Eastlake, Seattle.
As the senior editor for the 1964 Mercer Island Annual, she made the color orange instead of the standard maroon for the first and last time. She later returned to Mercer Island for 24 years while raising her family of two boys, Scott and Zach and husband Duane, while working at Bellevue Square for the Bon Marche/Macy’s for 24 years.
She graduated from the University of Washington in political science. At UW, she met Duane, who became not only her number one fan and husband for 46 years, but also her best friend.
Ruth went to work for Nordstrom right out of college and became the assistant buyer and various department managers during her 10-year tenure. She even worked at the Fairbanks, Alaska, Nordstrom for one year from 1976-77 with some hair-raising tales to tell. The Bon Marche/Macy’s certainly appreciated her Nordstrom talents when they made her department manager of the year in 1995 and store executive of the year in 2002. After moving from Mercer Island to Langley in 2004 and then retiring from Macy’s when the daily commute to and from Bellevue Square on 405 became a joke, Ruth became the president of the Langley Chamber of Commerce from 2006-2008. She then resigned for what she thought would be a conflict of interest when the SeaBreeze, Edgecliff and several other various property sales were waiting for a rezone for the Steve Day $30,000,000 hotel/condominium project.
She loved knitting, was an active member of the Ryther Mardi group, frequented most of the Langley shops, UBGCC, Clyde Theater and especially the Rod and Gun Club.
I don’t know what we will do without her to answer the tough questions of Trivial Pursuit and the TV show, “Jeopardy.” Her two beagles, Otis and Abigail, and her cat Sparky are lost without her. All members of the Den Adel and Muller family are already severely missing her. Everyone she knew appreciated her wit, intelligence, courage, honesty, integrity and unquenchable exuberance for life. Goodbye, Ruthy. We will all miss and love you forever.
