Ruby North
Longtime Los Gatos resident Ruby Evelyn North died Aug. 16 of a stroke while on a family vacation in Santa Rosa. She was 92.
North was born Aug. 22, 1903 in Spokane, Wash., and moved to California 72 years ago. During World War II, she served on the local ration board and drove a school bus for the Los Gatos Unified School District. North worked at the Los Gatos office of the San Jose Water Co. from 1946 until her 1968 retirement.
She was an active member of the Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos for 56 years and had participated in the chancel choir, handbell choir, drama group and Clipper Club. She also belonged to the Sizzling Seniors, a local aerobics group that performed at health fairs and senior citizen functions.
Survivors include daughters Bobbie Chambers of Los Gatos and Vinnie North of Sutter Creek; grandsons David Chambers of Cheshire, Conn., and Marc Chambers of Redmond, Ore.; granddaughters Gail Chambers of Big Sur and Lyn Chambers of Palo Alto; four great-grandchildren; and brothers Burton Baump of Arroyo Grande and Emmett Baump of Spokane, Wash.
Memorial services have been held, with private interment handled by the California Cremation Society.
Louise Pinschmidt
Louise Marion Braasch Pinschmidt of Los Gatos died Aug. 9 of lung complications. She was 80.
A native of Minneapolis, Minn., Pinschmidt was born Aug. 17, 1915. A Los Gatos resident for the past 35 years, she was a volunteer with the Suicide and Crisis Service in San Jose, where she logged more than 2,000 hours counseling those in need.
Pinschmidt enjoyed playing the piano, reading and caring for the multitude of dogs the family raised over the years. Her husband Robert said that marriage and total devotion to raising her children was her greatest joy in life.
Survivors include husband of 52 years Robert Pinschmidt of Los Gatos; sons Robert Jr. of Allentown, Penn., John of Stuttgart, Germany, and Dan of Los Gatos; daughter Penny of Palo Alto; and eight grandchildren.
Private services have been held, with arrangements by the Neptune Society.
James Woods
Los Gatan James E. Woods died Aug. 21 of cancer in his Los Gatos home. He was 61.
Born Oct. 4, 1934 in Carmen, Okla., Woods settled with his family in the Santa Clara Valley 58 years ago, where he has lived ever since. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1955 and worked as a roofer for 40 years. He lost his Santa Cruz Mountains home in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and was still rebuilding.
Woods is survived by wife Gloria of Los Gatos; sons Brett Woods of Napa, Jim Woods Jr. of Los Gatos, Ron Woods of Livermore, and Jim and Vernon Maggi of San Jose; daughters Julie Woods of Long Beach, Linda Bloodsaw of Placerville, Cheryle Martinez of San Jose and Sandra Maggi of San Diego; 16 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Services have been held, with interment at San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery, in the town of Gustine.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, September 4, 1996.
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