100 Years...... Ruth Panama Harris-Ables-Holmes-Moore

Ruth Panama Harris was born in the Canal Zone, Panama on November 19, 1908. She would now be 100 years old. Born to Harry and Iva Mae Harris, Harry was a worker on the Panama Canal. They later relocated to Denver, Colorado where Ruth grew up. At age 19 she married Arthur Ables. After the birth of their two children, Shirley and Pete, they moved to Long Beach. Arthur worked as a mechanic for Chevrolet and an amateur photographer. In 1936, Ruth, Shirley and Pete moved to Hawaii where Arthur had taken a job with Aloha Motors.

The family lived in Honolulu until early 1941 when they moved to Hilo. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Arthur went to work for the Navy and traveled to the Philippines and on to Egypt. In the meantime, Ruth filed for divorce and moved Shirley and Pete to Lake Tahoe, California.

In the late 1940s, Ruth remarried to William Holmes, a conductor for the Southern Pacific Railroad and relocated to Auburn, California.

The marriage to William lasted until 1960 when she divorced him and moved to Arizona. In 1964 Ruth married again, this time to James Moore, to whom she remained married to for the rest of her life. They moved to Sacramento and later to Auburn, where she bought a small mobile home. The first and only house she ever owned!

Ruth's lifestyle, smoking and drinking, eventually led to two open heart operations. One of her doctors told her she could only have one drink a day. So, Ruth purchased a large fish-bowl-sized brandy glass, filled it with bourbon, and nursed it all day.....her one drink!

In October 1978, just shy of her 70th birthday, Ruth's heart gave out. She passed away in her sleep. Her husband, Jim, passed away a month later.