Ruth McEntire Cowan

Ruth Elizabeth McEntire was born in 1934, daughter of Raymond Thomas McEntire Sr. and Emma Elizabeth Calvin, on a seven-generation farm in Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania. She credits her family and upbringing with teaching a down-to-earth work ethic, a spirit of sharing and caring among family and community, and an “all hands on deck” attitude to work through difficult times -- “per ardua”. Ruth is preceded by several generations of Scottish educators who believed in the inherent ability of everyone who is willing to be industrious.

Ruth and her twin sister, Rachel, were middle children following older sister Doris and brother Tom, and before sisters Lydia and Jody and brother James. The Hardscrabble Stock Farm was self-sustaining, and

Ruth’s family grew the crops that fed both family and cattle, sourced milk from the milk house, and ate from their own garden. The children worked right along with the farmers, and Ruth laughed to recount her first paid job working as a scarecrow at 5 AM in the fields - one hand holding a book to read and the other flapping around to keep the birds away. Ruth received her BA from Akron State University, did her graduate work at Case Western Reserve and the University of Colorado, and is a graduate of the CORO Foundation’s Public Affairs Training for Women. Ruth put her heart and values together to first teach elementary school in Euclid, Ohio and both Berkeley and San Francisco, California, and then later to work for the community, while nurturing not only the

Cowan family but also the extensive, loving McEntire clan. In 1958, she married Bruce Morris Cowan, an aspiring lawyer she met while in Boulder, and they settled in San Francisco. About the courtship, she fondly remembers their shared interest in the civil rights movement, frugal coffee dates paid with the change from the bottom of her purse, seeing Nat King Cole at the Garden of the Gods, and the kiss that set her world in motion on the steep mountain road in Estes Park when Bruce forgot to set the emergency break. Along with her warm, gentle, loyal and generous nature, Ruth was open, fun-loving, and outspoken in her beliefs. She is survived by her three children, Doug, Ted and Ellen, her son-in-law Christian, grandson Julian, four sisters Doris, Lydia, Rachel and JoAnn, and many cherished nieces and nephews.

Ruth and Bruce joined the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco in 1968, where she remained an active and beloved member until her death. She received the Society’s Rheiner Award in 1995 in recognition for decades of public service, earning her the mayor’s proclamation of Ruth Cowan Day in San Francisco. In 1964, Ruth helped found the San Francisco Education Auxiliary (School Volunteers) where she served as a board member until 1980, including as Vice President. In 1965 she joined the League of Women Voters and served on the board from 1978-1982, including as its President. In 1972 she joined the San Francisco Youth Guidance Center Auxiliary Board where she served through 1978, including as Vice President, President, and Liaison to the Juvenile Justice Commission. She helped found Huckleberry House, a teen crisis center, incorporated as Youth Advocates, Inc., which evolved to be Huckleberry Youth Programs and where she remains a lifetime honorary member. She joined the board of Hospice of San Francisco in 1982, and she was a member of the SF Planning Commission for Urban Renewal, the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, and the Civil Grand Jury. Ruth was active in the campaigns of Diane Feinstein, Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi and volunteered her garage as a voting precinct for 30 years. All in all, Ruth was a trailblazer wherever she went, and she leaves behind a valuable legacy of service to her family, community, church and city.

Ruth will be laid to rest beside her husband at a small graveside gathering on Sunday, August 29, 2021 at 2:00pm at Mountain View Cemetery at 5000 Piedmont Ave, Oakland CA. A celebration of her life will be held in memoriam at the First Unitarian Universalist Society at a later date.