Ruth Edna Rayle; Retired Teacher

Ruth Edna Rayle, a Ventura resident and retired teacher, died Wednesday at a local hospital after a brief illness. She was 81.

She was born May 6, 1919, in Santa Barbara and lived in Ventura County for more than 50 years. She was a Native Daughter of the Golden West.

During World War II, she became a telephone operator and met her future husband Leroy, who also worked for the telephone company.

Rayle was a preschool and kindergarten teacher at Monica Ross School in Ojai before retiring in 1956. For more than 12 years, she taught sewing and cooking at the Girl’s Club in Ventura.

She also enjoyed volunteering at Community Memorial Hospital for 20 years and feeding wild birds.

In addition to her husband of 55 years, she is survived by son Larry of Kent, Wash., and a sister, Audrey Smith of LaPine, Ore.

Memorial services are scheduled at 2 p.m. today at Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura, with the Rev. Paula Swavely of the Church of Religious Science in Ventura officiating.

Contributions to a favorite charity may be made in her memory.