Ruth Fairbanks, 96, passed away at her home in La Jolla June 5, surrounded by her family. Ruth was a mother extraordinaire and second mother to many. She was active and involved to the end.

Ruth had an amazing life. Her mother’s father, Charles Fairbanks, was a newspaperman, a senator from Indiana and Vice President under Theodore Roosevelt. As Vice President, he settled the boundaries of Alaska and the city of Fairbanks, was named after him.

Mrs. Fairbanks grew up in Pasadena and Coronado, CA. She left for school in the Midwest and East Coast and summered with her family in Newport, RI. While working in Washington, DC, Ruth met Albert (Bob) Edward Johnson (USN retired). They married in 1952, lived in Washington, DC for 24 years and moved to La Jolla in 1970.

Mrs. Fairbanks knew how to live life to the fullest and loved to travel.