Obituary of Ruth Marguarite Leslie

Ruth Marguerite Leslie (Gump) was born on Dec. 29, 1920, in Glendale AZ where her father was a sugar beet company supervisor. In 1929 they moved to Skull Valley AZ and operated a vegetable farm. In 1932 they moved to Coachella Valley CA where she attended Roosevelt School in Indio. At Coachella Valley Union High School she was nicknamed Peg. She was active in school sports, and was Business Manager for the School Annual. In 1940 she was certified to type accurately at 100 words per minute and completed Woodbury College’s secretarial course. In 1941 Ruth married Bill Leslie at a Methodist Church in Burbank, CA. They lived in Santa Monica for a few months, and then bought a house on Stoner Ave. in West Los Angeles. Ruth’s first child, John, was born in 1944. In 1945 Bill went into the Navy and Ruth followed him to Norman OK. Upon discharge he worked at Douglas, then as a carpenter and then the Los Angeles Fire Dept. During this time they built a home in Woodland Hills, CA. Ruth’s second child, Susan, was born in 1947. In 1952 Bill suffered a brain hemorrhage. Upon recovery they bought a motel and gas station in Weott CA in the idyllic coast redwoods. In 1955 they moved to Los Angeles and Ruth worked at General Telephone, Santa Monica. In 1957 she moved to Hughes Aircraft, Culver City, as a secretary in Purchasing and the Flight Test Div. Later she became a project controls administrator in Space Communications Div. In LA they began boating and water skiing with her brother John Payson Gump and family. Loving water sports, Ruth even became a certified scuba diver. Ruth retired in May 1978 and moved to Sun City, AZ with Bill to be neighbors to her brother, John Payson, his wife Marion and George and Janice Robertson (Marion’s sister) with whom they had always maintained very close relations. All joined the Church of the Palms and traveled extensively in their motor homes, frequently boating with their families in Lake Powell. In the 1980’s Ruth and Bill had a house built in Starlight Pines, AZ and thoroughly enjoyed completing the interior while maintaining residences in both Sun City and Starlight Pines. When Bill died in 2006 Ruth sold their “cabin” and moved back to Sun City. In 2007 she married Ralph Williams. In 2014 they moved to Simi Hills Senior Residence in Simi Valley CA. In Jan. 2016 they moved in with Ruth’s son John. Her father John Jacob Gump, and mother Mary Lois, brother John Payson, and her first husband Bill Leslie, preceded Ruth in death. Ruth is survived by her second husband Ralph Williams, son John, daughter Susan, and five grandchildren: Lori Orsatti, Holly and Bill Leslie, Kacey Dolan, and Mindy Seminario, and ten great-grandchildren, Mindy Belgard, Anthony, Gianna, Kenny and Nolan Orsatti, Johnny and Philip Leslie, Jason Flemming, and Ian and Leah Seminario.