Ruth Evelyn Ojala Good

Ruth Ojala Good graduated from this world at the age of 94, to be present with her Lord Jesus on Monday evening, August 12, 2024, in Federal Way, Washington.

She was born Ruth Evelyn Knudsen on April 13, 1930, to Harold and Ruth Knudsen, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is the oldest of their two daughters. Her sister, Geraldine, was born 3 years later.

At a young age, Ruth accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior and dedicated her life to the Lord. She loved Jesus with all her heart and served Him all her life. The Knudsen Family attended the Minneapolis Gospel Tabernacle (“The Tab”) faithfully, and their home was always full of music. Ruth’s mother started teaching her to sing when she was about 18 months old. In junior high school, Ruth started taking clarinet lessons and played in the school orchestra. She attended Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis and played her clarinet in the orchestra and the marching band. At church Ruth sang in choir and occasionally sang solos. She also sang in Christian Fellowship Club, Spanish Club, and a girls’ trio. Ruth also learned to play the piano, both by reading music and playing by ear. She was selected to be one of the 100 pianists to play for a Billy Graham Crusade in Minneapolis in 1950. And she played for many years as the church pianist at Brooklyn Center Assembly of God in Minneapolis; Glengrove Assembly of God in La Puente, California; and Calvary Temple in Auburn, Washington.

Ruth graduated from Roosevelt High School in the January 1948 class when she was 17 years old. She had wanted to attend college, but her Dad didn’t think that it was important for a girl to go to college so she got a job at Northwestern Bell Telephone Company in Minneapolis, where she worked for 2 ½ years.

In October of 1949, when Ruth was 19 years old, she contracted Polio. She went through much treatment and therapy to learn to walk again. It was during this time that she and Curt Ojala started dating. They were married at “The Tab” on December 2, 1950. Curt worked for the Honeywell Company and after they were married, Ruth worked at Honeywell until 1953 when their firstborn, Sandi, was born. Gary was born three years later. And another three years, Cherrie was born.

At Thanksgiving time, in 1964, the Ojala Family moved to Southern California when Curt was transferred with Honeywell. Exactly four years later, the family moved to Washington because of another transfer. Soon after, Honeywell wanted to transfer Curt again, but Curt and Ruth consulted with their children and all

decided that it was best for all of the family to remain in Washington. So Curt quit his job at Honeywell, but continued his photography business that he had first started when they lived in Minnesota, and went into insurance and mutual funds sales. It was also decided that Ruth would seek employment and was hired in 1970 at Western Electric (later AT&T) in Kent, Washington, where she worked for 17 ½ years, until the plant closed in 1987. AT&T bridged Ruth’s 2 ½ years of employment with The Bell Company, in Minneapolis, so she was able to then retire with the benefits of 20 years of service.

When Curt died in 1981, after almost 31 years of marriage, Ruth became a widow at the age of 51. Life Center Church in Tacoma had a very active singles’ ministry, so in time, Ruth started attending Life Center. She sang in the Life Center Chorale and the Singing Christmas Tree one year, and played piano for the Singles’ Sunday School Class.

After AT&T, Ruth went to work for Almac Electronics in Bellevue. But she continued to pray for a different job. That job came as the Activities Director at Life Manor, the Retirement Apartments behind Life Center Church in Tacoma. It was at Life Center and the Life Manor Dining Room that she met and got to know George Good, who had lost his wife the year before. They were married in the Life Manor Activity Room on September 24, 1988.

After working at Life Manor for 4 years, Ruth quit her job to be more available to accompany George in his ministry with his dramatic presentation of the entire book of Mark. They bought a motor home and became snow-birds traveling to the Palm Springs area for the winter months. Eventually, they bought a park-model and leased a site at Catalina Spa & RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs, California, where they spent many winters. There, Ruth continued her music ministry playing the piano for the church services at the park and for the Sunday afternoon jam sessions, accompanying other friends for their solos or group songs.

After being married to Ruth for almost 30 years, George passed away in 2018. Ruth’s granddaughter, Kayley, moved in with Ruth and lived with her for 2 years. In January 2022, Ruth moved to Life Manor Mountainside, in Tacoma, and lived there for 1 year. In January 2023, Ruth moved to Village Green Assisted Living, in Federal Way, where she would again play the piano at times in the “juice bar” before going in to the Dining Room for meals. It was at Village Green that she lived until she passed peacefully from this earthly life.

Ruth was preceded in death by her Dad, Harold Knudsen, and Mother, Ruth Knudsen; her husband, Curt Ojala; her daughter, Sandi Bullock; her second husband, George Good. Ruth is survived by her sister, Geraldine Olsen, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; her sister-in-law, Marian Erickson, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; her son and daughter-in-law, Gary & Becky Ojala, of Federal Way, Washington; her daughter and son-in-law, Cherrie & Mark Rasmussen, of Edgewood, Washington; her son-in-law, Larry Bullock, of Mulberry, Florida; her grandchildren, Ryan Bullock, Rachel Bullock, Brent & Martha Bullock, Breanne Bullock, Kayley Bullock, Cammie (Bullock) & Josh Coppock, Daniel Ojala & his wife, Joanne Leibe, Steven & Elizabeth Ojala; and her great-grandchildren, Brody Bullock, Melina Stewart, JR Stewart, James Bullock, Ruth Bullock, and another great-granddaughter due to be born very soon; and many nieces and nephews.

Memorial Services will be held on Saturday, September 28, 2024, 1:00 pm, at Brooklake Church, 629 S. 356th Street, Federal Way, Washington. Interred at Mountain View Cemetery, Auburn, Washington.