Longtime resident Ruth Plowman dies at 87

Ruth Plowman, an active member in the community and the mother of the publisher of the Outlook Newspapers in La Cañada Flintridge, has passed away. She was 87.

Plowman died on Saturday, Dec. 14 after a long battle with bladder cancer, according to her husband, Charlie Plowman.

The couple moved to La Cañada in 1978 and Ruth Plowman immediately jumped into community activities, he said.

She was involved in many groups, including the La Cañada Presbyterian Church, La Crescenta Presbyterian Church, the La Cañada Flintridge Chamber of Commerce, the La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation, and the La Cañada Tournament of Roses Assn. She worked at UCLA as a genetics researcher and volunteered at the USC Verdugo Hills Hospital in the emergency department for 25 years, her husband said..

“She was just a great wife,” he added.

One of her hobbies was raising orchids in her greenhouse.

City Councilman Dave Spence said his late wife, Alice, was a good friend of Ruth Plowman. She often shared her orchids with the Spence family. And she gave them a fig tree, which still stands in his yard.

Ruth Plowman leaves behind her husband, Charlie Plowman, their son, Outlook Newspapers publisher Charlie Plowman, Jr., daughter Sheri and two grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled at La Cañada Presbyterian Church on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 2 p.m.

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Follow Tiffany Kelly on Google+ and on Twitter: @LATiffanyKelly.

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