June 27, 1922 – June 30, 2012

Ruth Korn, a true woman of valor, passed away peacefully and with dignity, at home, surrounded by her family, 3 days after her 90th birthday, after a valiant year-long battle against pancreatic cancer, in San Diego, California. She died as she had lived, with remarkable grace, strength, self-awareness and generosity of spirit. Survived by her devoted husband of 65 years, Stanley Korn, her children Jeffrey (Sheila), Stuart (Jeanne), and her grandchildren Justin (Allison Schaefer), Julie (Kenneth Mitchell), Sara and Gregory.

Ruth was born in the Bronx, NYC, to Joseph and Rose Lasko. The youngest of five siblings, Max, Charles (Chick), Sidney, and Betty, (all now deceased), there was nearly 20 years age difference between oldest brother Max and Ruth. Joseph was a successful businessman, and Ruth recalled growing up during the great Depression in relative style. She was a devoted daughter and sister.

Ruth met the great love of her life, Stanley, at 16, when he stayed with her family upon emigrating from Poland. They married on January 5, 1947, after Stanley returned from naval service in WWII. They took up residence in the tightly-knit predominantly Jewish community of Amalgamated Housing coops near Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, and lived there for 46 years before relocating to San Diego in 1993. Jeffrey was born in 1949, and Stuart four years afterward to the day, making for a labor story Ruth delighted in telling.

Ruth and Stanley shared an extraordinary lifelong abiding love, which was an instruction and inspiration for their sons’ later marriages. That, combined with a strong Jewish underpinning and a large, colorful extended family, made for a joyful and comforting home, filled with laughter and love.

Ruth kept an impeccable Jewish home to the minutest detail. She was a master of traditional Ashkenazi Jewish cooking, and happily shared her recipes and techniques with her daughters-in-law and her granddaughter. No holiday was complete without her signature dishes.

Ruth’s mind was finely tuned towards practicality and problem solving, right up to the end of her life. She had a great mind for finances, was an excellent bookkeeper for several companies, and handled all household finances with efficiency and aplomb.

Family was always very important to Ruth, coming from a large close-knit family. Though she was a working mom, she was fiercely devoted to her boys and supported them thoroughly in all their endeavors. Even after her extended family dispersed all over the country, Ruth always remembered birthdays, anniversaries and special events, consistently keeping in touch with her many cousins, nieces and nephews. While she grieved the loss of all her siblings, her heart was irretrievably broken in 1975 when her beloved sister Betty died tragically from surgical complications.

In 1993, Ruth and Stanley relocated to San Diego to be near their children and grandchildren. They quickly embraced their new home, bridged the “culture gap,” and became involved with Congregation Tifereth Israel, where Ruth co-chaired the Friendship Circle. Ruth remained a vital and active presence in her children’s and grandchildren’s lives, proud to attend all her grandchildren’s b’nai mitzvoth, and her granddaughter’s wedding. She and Stanley had the joy of celebrating their 65 th wedding anniversary in January with friends and family. Her last months were a testament to her life force and to her love for her husband, for whom she wished to live as long as possible.