1928
Brother Gerard, mother Helene, and little Virginia - This picture is probably taken around 1926, before Ruth was born -- altho if 1927, then Helene may be pregnant with Ruth here	Ruth was the 4th child born to parents, Gerard and Helene van Leersum. Jef thinks that a 5th child, Johnny, was born shortly after Ruth. Apparently he didn't survive long, as times were hard during the depression. Ruth just barely survived as it was.
1929 - 30
Shriners picnic - Brother Gerard standing, Sisters Virginia on left and Susie on right	Ruth survived being a toddler.
1931
Ruth held by mother Helene. Sisters Susie, Gin, brother Gerard Ruth apparently briefly had a younger brother, Johnny. This is probably Virginia, Johnny, and Ruth at right	Ruth started looking like Ruth. She enjoyed a few years of good health.
1932 - 40
Ruth's family: Gerard, Helene, Susie, Gerard Junior; in front: Virginia and Ruth - both of these pictures were circa 1939 The 3 sisters: Virginia, Ruth, Susie. Both her sisters were always a few inches taller than Ruth, even in adulthood. Little Ruthie got her father's genes for her short stature, as you can see in the family photo, Gerard was a few inches shorter than Helene, who was close to 6' tall.	Ruth had tonsilitis problems during these years. Her father didn't want to spend any money on a tonsilectomy (the best option at that time, as antibiotics were unavailable -- Ruth got one herself immediately after leaving home). On one occasion, her father lanced an infection on her neck, possibly caused by untreated tonsilitis, with his pocket knife, rather than going to a doctor. She had a scar for the rest of her childhood (after she left home, she got this fixed by a plastic surgeon). If this cut became infected, it is now known that this can lead to osteomyelitis, which is an infection that eats bone. After leaving home, a dentist determined she must have had osteomyelitis, as part of her jaw was eaten away, and she had to have bridges over the weak portion of her jaw for the rest of her life. During the depression, Gerard experienced hard times. To make some extra money, he bought the lot next to his and erected a house. It failed to sell and was just a further drain, so he sold it for a loss just before the war -- just before the housing boom.
1941 - 43
Ruth with her parents, Gerard and Helene van Leersum.	Due to the war, the most intelligent students were accelerated thru high school, Ruth skipped 2 grades, as she was very bright. Ruth was the last remaining child in the house and was burdened with a heavy workload. She suffered in this environment and couldn't wait to leave. In 1941-2, she took classes in: English, Spanish, Algebra, General Science, Guidance, P.E., and Recreational Reading - getting mostly A's. In 1942-3, she took classes in: English, Plane Geometry, Guidance / American History, Spanish II / Typing, Library, and P.E. Ruth moved over from Willowbrook High School to Compton College. She got her high school diploma either in 1943 or 4 at the age of 15 or 16. In 1943-4, she started in Compton Junior College at the age of 15 and took: American History, Typing, Homemaking, English, Algebra, Biology, Freehand Drawing, and Physical Science Survey. She started excelling in racquet sports at this time, and started getting A's in P.E.
1944
Ruth's parents, like many during WWII, had a victory garden. Here is Ruth, age 16, tending that garden. She put a note on the back of the photo that read: "July 10, 1944 This is NOT a scarecrow. Don't insult me"	Ruth continued taking courses at Compton College. In 1944-5, she took Anatomy, P.E., English, French, Plane Trigonometry, Chemistry, and Sports Theory. Her main focus at this time seemed to be in sports.
1945
Gerard van Leersum December 21, 1918 - March 26, 2005 Ruth's brother returned from the war about this time. He was in the Naval Signal Corps.	Ruth continued at Compton Junior College. In 1945-6, she took classes in: P.E., English, American Politics Instruction(?), Physics, Mechanical Drawing, Hygiene. She audited College Algebra, Plane Analytic Geometry, and Chemistry. Future husband, Robert Johnson, met Ruth this year. Here is what he says about this time: "Soon after my discharge from the Navy in March 1945, I joined the 52-20 club, a veteran's benefit which game me $20/week for 52 weeks, provided that I enter an education program. I applied for admission to Cal Tech, USC, and where my beach buddies had succeeded, Compton Jr. College, the closest. I managed to get enrolled in Math, Physics, Chemistry, English & French -- elementary type classes. I had my Ford Coupe from before the War and that was helpful in making freinds. I needed a distraction since my return to my pre-war associations was unsatisfactory. Miy girl friend, Robin, had called me (at my parents home where I was living) and asked me to drive her to the airrport. On the way, she explained that she was going to New York to marry a cinematographer. At Compton Jr. College, I met several girls during the next 52 weeks. They were mostly interested in my car, a rarity among college students in 1945 - 46. We went to beaches, horseback riding, nightclubs, and football games. Few of the girls were interested in an unemployed elderly student (Robert was 25 at the time) except for the convenience of the car. In my calculus class, one of the 12 students was the only girl, Ruth. I sat next to her and she got along well in the group. She had a brain and was quite attractive. I wasn't the only one interested in her. She was not the type to waste time on entertaining. Ruth had run away from home and was living with 2 (married) teachers at Compton College. They advised her to change her name (without any approval by family or court). Hence, her name was Henson in the marriage licence. Once, shortly after first meeting Ruth, she asked me to stop by a small mom-and-pop grocery store in Willowbrook, so she could visit a moment with friends. Ruth was "at home" with her schoolmates, but I was apprehensive about venturing into a totally black community, but I got by with my smile while my future fiance joked, touched, and pranked her old companions, thinking nothing of pulling a couple of cokes out of their cooler and drinking them before I could offer to pay. The money was not accepted. This store was 2 blocks from Ruth's family home. I never met Ruth's mother or father - Ruth would not allow it! We did look at the nearby Watts Towers."
1946
Ruth reading "About Things" at her parent's house Her dad's business card	Ruth continued at Compton and took classes in: Physics, Desc. Geometry, Calculus, Surveying, Physics. She probably had enough credits to obtain her AA degree by this time. A note on her Willowbrook / Compton transcript mentions USC, 8-18-60. Perhaps she parlayed this into a bachelors degree at that time. It is not known what degree(s) she actually obtained, but she did have a solid education. As was the custom of European families, Ruth was expected, being the youngest, to stay home and take care of her parents. She felt she was mistreated by them, and so she was determined to escape at the first opportunity. At 18, she saw such an opportunity, and left home permanently around this time. First moving in with a couple who taught at the college. She changed her name to Ruth Henson -- making a statement that she was now independent! However, according to Bob, Ruth believed this older couple was expecting the young Ruth to take care of them, as well, so she determined this to be only a temporary arrangement, as she had other plans. Robert recalls continuing his 52-20 program into this year at Compton Jr. College, which was only 3 miles from his parent's house. He apparently continued at Compton after his benefits were exhausted, and continued driving Ruth around. He recalls: "I found that she lived with another girl, not far out of my way, and soon I was driving her to and from her place. Bob had a 1941 Ford coupe. His classmate, Bill Britten, a 19 year old Swede, persuaded him to drive him to school. Robert then became the driver of a number of students, as cars were scarce in 1946 because of the war -- especially Bill's girl-friends. Bob drove to football games, to the beach, and once skiing on rented skis at Big Bear. One of the girls was Ruth. Bob recalls that one day one of Ruth's friends told her she could go to Max Factor in Hollywood and get $25 if she let them cut her long hair. Ruth had blonde hair that had never been cut and hung down to her hips. So Bob was recruited to drive Ruth and her friend to Max Factor one afternoon. Ruth went in and came out 2 minutes later, hair un-cut. They didn't want it. This was Bob's first experience with Ruth, and he wondered how these girls could go to school without a $20/week stipend. This excursion told him that they would sell 5-10 years of hair growth to pay next month's room rent. Bob thinks Ruth probably did babysitting and housework to live independent from her family.
1947
Robert Johnson A young Ruth Johnson Ruth Ruth with sister Virginia and her youngest, Donald	Ruth continued taking a few courses at Compton, but her focus started shifting away from college, and she even withdrew from a few courses. Ruth obtained a tonsilectomy this year. She dated and then married former classmate Robert Johnson. Future husband, Robert continued: "We did not date or go nightclubbing or to the beach, but we talked. I had about $1200, the car, and a place to stay and eat with my parents and was a serious student. I told Ruth she was the girl for me and that we could make plans. Ruth lived in a rented room with her girl friend. The room was one of the rooms of a house owned by an old bachelor. The girls had kitchen priveleges and the old bachelor seemed to resent my presence. Ruth had left her parents home while she was 17 years old. She was an intimate friend of a married couple of teachers at Compton Jr. College. These teachers had advised her to leave her family and come live with them. To avoid being forced to come home by her parents, also to change her name. Ruth changed her last name, Van Leersum, to Henson (perhaps the same as the married teachers). That was her name when we got married in August 1947. Ruth resisted my proposal of marriage until I did 2 things. In May 1947, I took a Civil Service exam for a job with L.A. County. Ruth and I drove around L.A. about that time looking for a building site. Our conversations led up to plans to use my $1200 to buy a lot and for both of us to get jobs and live together on my parents back bedroom while we worked together on weekends to build our own house. Ruth had many friends. The Enq family were her neighbors. Dr. Enq had and office on 3rd and Spring Street in downtown L.A. As a requirement for a marriage licence, Dr. Enq took our blood samples. As payment for this service, he asked me to travel with him while he made house calls in several bad neighborhoods, as a sort of bodyguard. Dr. Enq had 6 kids and 4 cars. My sister Marian and her husband Frances Rupp had been building their own house. Ruth's brother Gerard had built his own house. We could do it. One day in June 1947, I rode my bicycle from South Los Angeles to Marian's house. On this bike ride, I passed Landa Street and Fellowship Drive and saw the FOR SALE sign. The same week I recieved notice that I had passed the Civil Service Exam. In August Ruth and I both started work, she as a 200 word/minute typist at Title Insurance. We bought the lot and started building. We were together earning $500/month, and worked Sat. and Suns. getting the permit and buying 1 board at a time, finishing the 450 sq. ft. house with a roof and windows, water connection and a dirt floor and moving in Nov 1947. The couple had purchased a lot in the Silver Lake District of Los Angeles in the hilly terraine of Cerro Gordo. Ruth's roommate before marrying Bob was a witness at their wedding, along with her boyfriend. It was a court wedding. During the initial period of home-construction, on weekends, the couple camped in a tent on their home building site on Landa Street. The water meter was already installed, and they used a gasoline lantern to keep working into the night. Some days, after work, the couple would work until 10, sack out in the tent, and drive to Bob's parent's house at 312 E 91st to clean up before work. After 3 months, they moved into the 450 square foot house on Landa Street, still using the gasoline lantern, and living on a dirt floor, and using an outside toilet. Scrap lumber was used to get up the hill without getting muddy shoes. For the next 5 years, they worked, earning about $500/month, and spending 20 hours a week making home improvements. Time was spent buying materials, porting them up the hill, hammering, sawing, mixing cement, building scaffolds, plumbing, wiring, etc.
1948
Bob and Ruth (and guest) in front of new house At either Mt. Wilson or Palomar Observatory Snow visit	A rare snowfall (3 - 4") was observed on this property in the beginning of this year, and none has fallen since! The couple continued working on improving the house, getting a sewer connection, finishing the floor & bathroom by April 1948. Since so much had to be done to get the house in order, Ruth did most of this work, while Bob continued working for the county. One of their methods for getting building materials to the house (50' above the road), was to make a 'boat' using a piece of aluminium sheet metal purchased surplus from an airplane factory and 2"x10" lumber. They attached a rope and pulley to this, and Ruth drove the truck down the street. The boat, usually containing sand for their concrete, was then pulled up to the level of the house. This was before credit cards, so they waited for Bob's paycheck, cashed it at the bank (they didn't even have a checking account), went to the lumber yard, purchased the building materials, and went home to build with the new materials. In fact, the couple did not even have a bank account all the way into the 60s, living paycheck to paycheck. Bob remembers driving Ruth to various Badminton tournaments. She usually won, but was only there for fun. As they would in each of the following years, the couple drove around the country and camped. That summer, they went up to Oregon to visit Bob's Uncle Charlie, camping at various points of interest, including Crater Lake. Ruth continued working at Title Insurance (T.I.), typing trust deeds.
1949
Old 1 bedroom house Relatives: Cyril, Minnie, Reekie, Robert, Phillis, Lillian and Ruth at Union Station jef\1950s\1950\train1.jpg	Robert and Ruth continued upgrading their new residence. It was about this year that a neighbor above them had cleared some vegetation and a good storm had caused a mudslide. After this, the mud pushed up against the back walls of the house to a depth of about 5 feet! Shortly after this, Bob dug out the mud, and the couple built a cinderblock wall behind the house. Every year, including this one, they took about a week or so to travel around the country and camp. This year they hit Bryce and the Grand Canyon. Ruth continued working at Title Insurance and Bob with the county.
1950
Ruth at time of plastic surgery to fix the scars on her neck Ruth with Bob's grandparents on his father's side: Alida and Arvid Ruth showed her daredevil colors when she went up in the bucket lifted by a large crane in Bob and Ruth's project to make a concrete garage at their Landa Street home this year Here is picture of crane in action with Bob helping on receiving end Ruth took this picture of Bob starting a railing around new garage	Ruth got plastic surgery performed to fix the scar on her neck. The concrete garage was completed this year. Ruth had some interesting and helpful neighbors on Landa Street. One was Charlie Hanna. He was an older man who was born circa 1880, and was very knowledgeable on how to do pretty much anything. He noticed Ruth struggling to carry buckets of sand up the hill one day, and carved her a yoke, so that she could use her shoulders to carry 2 buckets with less stress on her body. Over the years he gave sage advice to Ruth -- who soaked up such knowledge like a sponge. She was always fond of Charlie. Robert recalls: "We kept at a stiff program of earning money and using all of our spare time for our do-it-yourself home for 14 years with annual breaks for a 2-week vacation -- clean living with minimum pleasures. About this year, we began talking about children and enlarged the house to about 1500 sq. ft. We were required by the city to build a garage. The house furnishings were the cheapest. We had a minimum social life, entertaining few friends, and mostly relatives."
1951
The back patio started turning into another room	Ruth battled a bout of Iritis this year. She became pregnant and quit her job at Title Insurance and Trust Company. While at home, she remedied problems with their lot: it was susceptible to mudslides during heavy rains, as it sloped at about a 30% incline. Ruth started terracing.
1952
Hillside encroaching on house Ruth's first daughter, Julie was born this year	Early in the year, Ruth and Bob bought a yellow International pickup truck. Rather than pay the $200 delivery charge, Bob decided that they should fly out and pick it up themselves. The airfare was about $200, but it provided an opportunity for Bob to stop and visit his relatives in Ironwood Michigan. Weather was stormy, and when flying into Chicago, it was fogged in, so they had to circle in the Lockheed Constellation for 3 hours before landing. They connected to a DC2 in Chicago, and flew to Springfield, Ohio, home of International. They drove back, and visited Bob's relatives, and he met his grandmother for the first time. Ruth gave birth to her eldest, daughter Julie. While at home, Ruth worked on controlling the mountain of mud that encroached on the house with each passing storm. Ruth orchestrated building the necessary terracing both above and below the house. The couple continued construction of their 3 story addition. The bottom story became the basement. Robert recalls: "Within 6 months (of giving birth to Julie) Ruth got a job at Gladding McBean as a china painter. We employed babysitters on a full day basis. Our income became more limited for the continuing construction of the home."
1953
Bob carrying up mortar. He was an apprentice to a chimney builder. This combination incinerator / fireplace chimney was actually 3 stories high. Bob helped build 10 such chimneys.	Ruth's only son, Jef, was born this year. While pregnant, Elsa recalls Ruth telling her that this was the easiest delivery, because Ruth fell down on the driveway while pregnant with Jef, and altho injuring her back, it pushed him into the birth canal. This is also the year a 3 story addition to the original house was completed. Ruth did most of the work on this. Bob, who was apprenticing to a mason at the time, arranged to have him help build the couple's fireplace.
1954
Son Jef's 1st birthday this year	Ruth and Bob built a deck around the new addition, so that they could walk around their house at the same level. The couple made a giant swing using 2" steel pipe in the garage roof area. This being the only large flat area was equivalent to a "front yard". Also a little cement wading pool was made for the young kids. The pool was used for a few years, and the swing was removed in the mid-60s. Ruth was still recovering from the back injury she sustained the prior year when pregnant with Jef.
1955
Ruth and Bob took camping trips occasionally with their friends, the Tierneys. Francis and Ruth worked together at Gladding McBean. Here they are in Mammoth. Frances is in highlighted square. John Tierney and Bob are to right of picnic table. Julie and Jef got some early camping experiences in places like this	Early this year, the family drove north to Canada, making it up to Calgary, and hitting Yellowstone and Glacier along the way. Near Edmonton, they got a ride on a snow tractor to the top of the Columbia Glacier. Daughter Julie wandered off and fell partway into a crevasse. Bob and Ruth managed to rescue her before she was lost. While following the Columbia River, Bob saw a road grader ahead, and drove near the edge of the road. The surface was not too firm, so it gave way, and the car, a red '51 Ford convertible, went over the edge and into the Columbia River. Fortunately, the rear tires kept the entire car from entering the water. The road grader pulled the car out and they were able to continue. Later in Canada, they drove on a very rough road - the Canabaska Hwy (sp?), and blew out 3 tires. They had to drive on the rims part of the way so they could get back to civilization. They purchased the local 6-ply Canadian tires, but this cleaned them out, so they had to turn around and go home at that time. Ruth continued fixing up the house, working, and raising her 2 toddlers. The family went to the newly open Disneyland this year. During the Christmas holidays, Ruth became pregnant.
1956
Ruth's youngest was born this year Christmas card this year	Ruth gave birth to her last child, Elsa. Shortly before the birth, she had to quit doing piecework hand painting the Desert Rose Earthenware and Ivy China patterns for Gladding McBean. She continued to make home improvements while staying home. This year, Bob and Ruth purchased their first new car (excluding the '52 pickup), trading in their Ford convertible for a Nash Rambler station wagon. A car that Ruth hated! With the pickup truck and the kids in the back, they were quiet and no trouble. Not so with the station wagon. Ruth had by this year met a neighbor who lived a couple blocks away named Margaret Lord. She was an older lady who was apparently a widow, who inherited a large chunk of money, yet lived modestly, but comfortably. Ruth admired her tranquil life and felt at peace when visiting. Daughter Elsa recently remembered that Ruth told her that Margaret divined that her initials should be EMJ rather than her preceding siblings who had initials JAJ. This may explain how Ruth was always interested in various forms of mysticism, such as Astrology. Jef thinks Margaret was much like Ruth's best friend in the 90s, Ann Robinson, who also dabbled in Astrology, and Ruth was drawn to these types of people who were always upbeat and easily amused. In the years following, even though Margaret disdained most children, she took a shine to Ruth's kids, and often babysat because they were also so easily amused and polite (at least at this stage of their young lives). About this time, Bob and Ruth had daughter Julie attend pre-school at a nearby "Ethical Culture Society". Here Julie, and eventually Jef, learned to share, compete, and swim.
1957
Ruth with kids late this year	During this year, Ruth made sure Elsa would be her last child. 3 children was more than enough. Ruth jumped back into the workforce as a dispatcher for the LA Police Department. After a brief job as an LA police dispatcher, Ruth went back to work for Title Insurance, after finding a good babysitter. She found Maggie Barnett, who retired from the mining industry, formerly living in the gold-mining boom town of Randsberg. The family traveled to the Zion / Bryce area again this year. Bob had an 8mm movie camera, and movies still survive of the kids playing around in the Virgin River and feeding squirrels at Bryce. Robert recalls, because of the pitter-patter of little feet around the house, that he once bragged to the neighbors that this was the only house whose floors had been washed entirely with spilt milk. Also, local baby-sitters were employed, as both Bob and Ruth worked full-time.
1958
	Bob said that Ruth suggested Bob attend USC full-time to complete the last 2 years of his 4 year degree (it took him 11 years of night school to get the 1st 2 years). Ruth would continue her secretarial work at the LA Stock Exchange, while Bob took a leave of absense. Robert, in need of peace and quiet in order to complete his college coursework in the winter of this year, insisted Ruth take a trip to Europe and drop the kids off to stay with relatives in Ironwood Michigan. Ruth complied, and travelled solo, first flying to New York, where she toured for a while -- seeing the newly built United Nations building. Then she took an 11 knot ocean liner to Europe. She visited relatives in England and Holland. She also travelled to Italy, Switzerland, and France. Ruth was not pleased with how the kids were taken care of while she was gone, but quickly got things back in order. She told Jef she always regretted being talked out of bringing the kids on the trip. Robert picked up Ruth when she arrived back from Europe, probably after flying in to Chicago -- Jef remembers Bob filming a plane arriving. The couple then drove to Ironwood to pick up Jef and Julie and drove back to LA.... but on the way, near Cold Fort UT, Ruth told Bob he was driving too fast on an icey road. Shortly after ignoring her, he spun out and went off the road, finally coming to rest on a steep slope, about 25' from the bottom in the deep snow. The family had to climb out of the car, as the doors wouldn't open. A truck stopped and said it would take them to St. George so they could get a towtruck. Jef remembers the comfortable bed in this sleeper truck. When the tow truck driver was attaching a chain, a big truck came around the blind curve and immediately braked when he saw what was up ahead. The big truck jack-knifed with its trailer and came right at the tow truck, taking up the entire road. Bob, Ruth, and Julie ran for their lives, leaving Jef sitting in the tow truck oblivious to everything. Just before the big truck took out the tow truck, the driver gunned it, and managed to straighten out enough to barely miss the truck. Bob thinks that this is how Jef became a spoiled brat -- the guilt from this incident caused the couple to give Jef special treatment after that. The family made it back to LA and things eventually settled down again. Bob, who was going to night school these past 10 years, went to USC full time. The neighbors were an interesting lot, and Ruth got to know more of them. The Martins who lived across the street, had a tree growing thru their roof from their living room. Tex, possibly a former Hollywood stunt man, helped watch the kids occasionally. The terraine was so extreme in the area, that when cars took the curve above Tex's house too fast, they might land on his roof! 3 such incidents occurred in the 50s and 60s. Bill Angler, who lived between Tex and Charlie Hanna, also sometimes helped watch Ruth's kids. Ruth and Bob had the luxury of living in a friendly neighborhood, and it rubbed off on Ruth, who always tried to be a good neighbor herself.
1959
	About this time, Ruth arranged to get a blonde baby grand piano. She could play a rousing rendition of a classical piano composition. Jef believes it was Beethoven's Fur Elise. Beethoven was Ruth's favorite composer. She preferred classical over popular music. Ruth arranged to have a neighbor, who also taught at the local grade school, teach Julie and Jef on the piano. They took lessons for about a year, but when the neighbor stopped giving lessons, they didn't continue. This was the year when the family made a marathon trip to Mexico -- failing to make Mexico City due to time limitations. Within 6 days, they did the following: Day 1: Guaymas Day 2: Mazatlan Day 3: Guadalajara Day 4: Hidalgo del Parral -- family sat on grass in front of motel and ate watermelon (Bob suspects this is where the family contacted pinworms) Day 5: Tucson Day 6: LA -- family was infected with pinworms, and had to be de-wormed Later that year, Ruth's cousin, Roy, arrived in LA. He was strong-armed into getting a job (at a local machine shop) after sitting around for 2 weeks. He continued to live in their Landa Street house until 1964. This is the year that the back patio was closed in and became part of the house. After baby-sitter Maggie became unavailable, Ruth was lucky to have her neighbor and friend, Margaret Lord volunteer to watch the kids.
1960
Family centered around Ruth at piano, circa 1959	Robert graduated with a civil engineering bachelors degree at USC in June 1960. Bob then resumed his county engineering job in an advanced position. So now he could take care of the household, so Ruth could get her degree and work, as they had agreed? No? Trouble... About this time, Ruth met Nora Pyle, and the two concocted a scheme where one would drive their kids to school and the other would pick them up. Jef remembers staying at Nora's house after school and playing with her son, Richard. He would later be picked up by Ruth, who had taken Richard to school in exchange. Nora was an older lady, who also worked. She was probably a stabilizing influence on Ruth, and the 2 remained good friends with Ruth until she passed away in the 90s.
1961
Impala Ruth bought Bob for his graduation from USC in 1960	Around August of this year, Ruth and Robert discussed their future. A disagreement arose whether or not Ruth should delay her career and be a full time mother. Ruth made an impromptu decision, and Bob came back from work one day to an empty house and a note explaining the situation. Bob's story of the reasons for the breakup are as follows: Ruth was an opposite type from Robert: She was an athletic competitor, while he was focused on his career. Her friends encouraged her to aim higher in her work, rather than doing manual labor or office work. One friend was a journalist who couldn't understand Robert's self-satisfaction with construction labor. Ruth at this time could take dictation and type 200 words per minute. Ruth was unhappy with her marriage and frequently said so. The couple had no savings and her association with her high living employers at the LA Stock Exchange had exposed her to a more interesting life-style than was available at home. Robert felt a lack of support in his fight with obesity -- he would diet for a month, lose 40 pound, and gain it all back in 2 months. Then repeat the process. Ruth enjoyed overfeeding Robert. Ruth suffered a chronic respiratory painful throat. Sister Viginia's husband, Dr. Hersh Light, got Ruth litre bottles of codeine. Ruth became addicted, and rejected Bob's cold turkey suggestions. Ruth objected to Bob's violently disciplining a 7-year-old Jef (for once pushing sister Elsa down the inside-house staircase). Bob said his mother did the same to him when he once hit his sister. Ruth felt the pain of Robert's (due to his fathers advice) refusal to borrow from any bank. Some of Ruth's friends, usually the childless ones lived in much better homes and enjoyed expensive leisure activities, usually because they would borrow. Ruth could never see the light at the end of the tunnel, and Bob was the "millstone". Bob also says: "We both came from an environment of poverty. At first, the goal of independence, home ownership, and making full use of our talents was reward enough and we both enjoyed the work and were proud. We were not couch potatoes. We both had easy jobs and had reserves of energy for making our home -- a slow process. But you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear... etc. Somehow or other, the whole thing turned out a blazing success. (perhaps referring to the children, whom Bob says were the important outcome of their marriage)" After piecing together collective memories of Bob, and Ruth's kids, it was determined that Ruth took the kids to the nearby Star-Lite Motel, only a few miles from home. This was a good hotel for businessmen, as it was close to downtown LA., rooms were suites, it had a nice pool and good views. Also there was the newfangled color TVs in the rooms. Jef remembers watching The Wonderful World of Disney. It was complete luxury for Ruth's kids, who were used to more austere surroundings. Bob and Ruth while together had never done anything remotely extravagant. Jef remembers that Don Lynch was also staying there. Don had a seat at the LA Stock Exchange, and Bob recalls that Ruth was Don's secretary for a while. It is now clear that Don and Ruth had started a long lasting business relationship at or before this time. The two also became good friends, as they were kindred spirits. Ruth grew up in a poor neighborhood with parents that failed to provide a happy environment for their kids. Don was orphaned at a young age, and wound up living in an aunt's closet during part of his childhood. Both were seeking a better life. Ruth was being seduced by this material world, and was determined to stay there for a while. The two may have been planning a joint venture at this time, as they did form a new company in the near future. Ruth was probing many avenues to enhance her career around this time. She managed to make many friends. She may have worked several jobs at the same time. Elsa remembers that she worked as a housekeeper for movie star June Lockart. This may explain how she had connections with other people in the movie business that showed up later in the decade. Also, she worked a homecare job, taking care of a crippled, but well-off lady in Beverly Hills. A very young Elsa remembers meeting this lady, who offered to buy her any toy she wanted. All of her experiences were showing her there was a whole new world out there, and she wanted to see it! At some point, probably this year, she opened her first checking account. Jef recalls it was the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank. Bob recalls how Ruth was able to buy a house almost immediately. As the divorce was amicable (according to Bob, they agreed before the marriage that any divorce would be uncontested), he took out a loan on their house from Coast Federal Savings (the only loan he's ever had), and paid Ruth half its value. This was enough for Ruth to pay cash for a house on Boylston Street -- a split level house overlooking Chavez Ravine just as Dodger Stadium was under construction, and downtown LA with its many jobs only a few miles away. The children were given the option of living with either parent. Ruth's daughters elected to stay with her, and Jef, not knowing what was going on, decided to stay put, with his father. But that was not a problem, as the 2 houses were only a few miles apart. In November, Bob was a passenger in a car going over the mountains to give a presentation for a water system the county was planning to install in the Antelope Valley. The driver was a bad driver, according to Bob, and was tailgating a big truck going slowly up the hill. Another bad driver was in a hurry coming down the highway. He thought he'd see if there was an opening behind the big truck, and pulled into the other lane for a look-see. This pickup truck hit Bob's car head on, ripped the roof off (along with the driver's head), went off a cliff and burst into flame. Both men in the truck and Bob's driver were killed. Bob was knocked out, but probably saved by his lap belt. He woke up in the hospital a few days later with casts on both feet and bandages on his head. He remembers 3 children trying to get in to see him, but they were turned away -- no visitors. Ruth had brought her kids down to see him.