JARRETT, Ruth Birgitte Jarrett

Died peacefully on December 7, 2025, an incredible Mum to Kirsti (Roy), Ingrid, Roland, Lisa (Terry); and a dedicated Grandma to Dylan, Sean, Emma, Amy, Megan, Kari, Liam, Hanna, Freya, and Elliot.

Ruth was born in Halden, Norway in 1933. She met Tony Jarrett in the summer of 1952, on a blind date, while he was working in Halden as a summer student. After their marriage in 1955, Ruth and Tony immigrated to B.C. They had 62 wonderful years of marriage together until Tony’s death in 2017.

They first arrived in the Cariboo, living in McCalister, Likely, McLeese Lake and many small places in between. They then moved to the mountains, making Revelstoke and Golden their home for a number of years. Next came Port Coquitlam, Kelowna, Kamloops, Vancouver, and a return to Kelowna in 1995 after Tony’s retirement. Throughout the places Ruth and Tony lived and travelled, which were many, they created and nurtured deep and long-lasting friendships.

For those who knew Ruth, they knew of her kind, calm, generous, creative spirit. Mum was also an avid reader and gardener, a good cook and quietly intelligent. She had a deep affinity for music, art, good food and family gatherings. Ruth expressed her creativity through knitting, spinning, weaving, and basketry. She had a good eye for colour and a strong sense of design. She began her journey into the fibre arts in Kelowna in the 1970s, and she was hooked! After that, Ruth joined guilds in all the places she lived and again when she and Tony retired to Kelowna. Guild members continued to inspire her, and she was always keen to try something new when it came to creating anything fibre.

Mum loved family, and she taught us by example to embrace and value both family and community. Mum welcomed everyone into her home with a warm embrace, and she loved to listen to what friends and family had to share. In the late 1970s Big White became another warm gathering place for family and friends where there always seemed to be enough, and the door was always open. With great appreciation, this legacy has been passed on to her children and grandchildren.

Mum shared a passion for tradition, and we are all grateful to have shared many a Norwegian breakfast, baking, and other countless home-cooked meals. Later in life, we could find Mum sitting by the fire, enjoying a small scotch or a sherry, often with a piece of good dark chocolate, reading an interesting book or magazine.

Mum was a big part of our lives, and she will be deeply missed by her family, as well as by the Hopkinsons and Hamiltons with whom she had a special and deep connection, and many others.

As the spring was Ruth’s favourite season, a Celebration of Life will be held on June 6, 2026. More details to be announced.