Mary Ruth Douglas, age 62, of Ashland, Oregon succumbed to cancer on Wednesday, March 12, 2008. Mary endured the effects and treatments of this disease for over eight months, always presenting strength and positive attitudes during the process. While she will be missed by friends and family, we are blessed by the time we shared. 

Mary Ruth came to us on June 12, 1945, in Dayton, Ohio. Her formative years were in Michigan where she was raised and educated. In 1967, Mary graduated from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois with a degree in biology. She went on to be a teacher and later her endeavors brought her to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she joined the publishing industry, first as a production manager of college textbooks, and eventually forming her own business to contract these services. Later in life, Mary also became a life coach, providing individual counseling services to clients seeking the means to discover using their own talents in order to lead a happier life. These coaching endeavors brought significant satisfaction and fulfillment to Mary, and led to lasting bonds of respect and friendship. Mary was always a success in whatever path she chose to pursue. 

Mary’s enduring love, spirit and friendship will be forever missed by her family, professional associates, and friends. She is survived by loving family, to whom she was a faithful daughter, sister, and aunt. She leaves a broad network of personal and professional relationships she shared with, laughed with, and brought life to. Mary made the world a better place.