Ruth Margaret Lines

We are sad to announce the passing of Ruth Lines

Ruth was born and raised in Seattle, Washington-the only child of Elsie and Oscar Olson.

She graduated from Ballard High School then spent time living and working in at least 3 other states-including Florida and California-before returning to Seattle to stay. After her return to Seattle, Ruth worked for Boeing for a few years until being laid off. She then spent over 25 years working in the mail room at the Seattle Federal Reserve Bank.

During her time at Boeing, she met her future husband, Walter, on a metro bus. He worked at Boeing as well at the time and both were commuting to work. They married February 7,1969 and had two children-Walter and Margaret.

Ruth had many interests and a close relationship with her family. She loved participating in interests and activities together with her husband and children-resulting in a full and active life creating lasting memories for all.

Ruth enjoyed country music-attending many concerts with the whole family and traveling to Nashville multiple years to attend Fan Fair/CMA fest and artist fan club parties with her children. Ruth also traveled to several other states and even multiple countries, including Australia with her children; Italy and Germany with her family; and Russia with her family (visiting her daughter who taught English there from 1999-2001). She made a couple return trips to Russia with her children-once joining her daughter on a Trans-Siberian rail tour as she thought (rightly) that her daughter may enjoy having company during the journey.

Ruth also was a big sports fan. She was a brief season ticketholder to the Seattle Seahawks with her son; a season ticketholder to the Seattle Thunderbirds hockey team for over 20 years with her husband and daughter; a multi-year season ticketholder to the Seattle Sounders; and was a long-time season ticketholder to the Seattle Storm together with both children. She and her son were “founding fans”-attending Storm games since their inaugural season. And once her son became a big fan of the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies women’s basketball team in 1994 she joined in sharing this interest full-heartedly. She traveled to other states to watch them play and started attending women’s Final Four basketball championships starting in the late 90s -continuing attendance through 2025’s championship -missing only a couple years in-between. She even was able to travel to Connecticut with the whole family multiple times to see them play on their home court.

After 55 years of marriage, her husband preceded her in death in April 2024. Ruth continued to travel and attend sporting events with her children until her health started failing at the end of August 2025. Visits with both children continued often until her passing.

She also is preceded in death by both parents and relatives on her parents’ side. She is survived by her two children, Walter and Margaret; her sister-in-law Eileen Nelson and John Nelson of Seattle; and various nieces and nephews.

Ruth is much loved. She may no longer be with us, but we are comforted that she is reunited with her husband and parents/relatives again. She will always be loved and remembered fondly.