A celebration of life and potluck is 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 2, 2004, at the V.F.W. Lodge in Soldotna. Pastor Wayne Ostrander will officiate. Ruth's ashes will be scattered in the ocean at the mouth of the Cook Inlet and in the Kamiah Valley in Idaho, and a portion will be buried at the family cemetery in Idaho.

Ruth was born Feb. 23, 1954, in Grangeville, Idaho, where she was raised and attended high school until the tenth grade. She moved to Kenai in July 1984, moved to Nikiski in 1985, living there for two years, and later moved to Sterling in 1987. Ruth lived in Sterling for 10 years and moved to Anchor Point for two years and in 1999 she moved to Soldotna and resided there until her passing. She attended the Kenai Peninsula College in 1990-1991.

Ruth never really worked; she volunteered most of her life toward making people happy and making life better for others. She loved to help people no matter who they were. Ruth was a person that had no worries of her feelings but she would go to any length to make others feel special about themselves. When Ruth said something, that was what she felt; she always believed in herself. Ruth's favorite hobby was playing pool. Her lifelong goal was making her Biblical Book. She was a devoted mother and grandmother and she will be greatly missed.

Ruth was preceded in death by her mother, Barbara Bedwell. She is survived by her sons, Kelly Ray Sage of Longview, Wash., Adam James Newcomb and Branden Heath Newcomb, both of Soldotna; daughter, Dayna Ray Idell Rideout of Kasilof; sisters, Raellen Bronzan of Washington and Kathy Holland of Washington; brothers, Robert Sowders of Rowland Height, Calif; Stephen Bedwell of Calif., Lloyd Bedwell of Kamiah, Idaho, and Kim Bedwell of Clarkston, Wash.; father, Robert Bedwell of Idaho; grandson, Simone Newcomb of Soldotna; and granddaughter, Alayna Sage of Longview, Wash.

Memorial contributions may be sent to Dayna Rideout, P.O. Box 812, Kasilof 99610.

Arrangements cared for by Peninsula Memorial Chapel.