Ruth Dirkes De Cou Dailey Spilsbury
November 2, 1924 – September 6, 2022

Born and raised in Inglewood, CA Ruth was the 2 ^nd oldest of the six children of Gertrude and Franz Dirkes. Her siblings were Jack, Bill, Marialyce, Barbara and Jim, all of whom predeceased her.

At the age of 16, she enrolled at Mount St. Mary's College and when old enough transferred to UCLA. WWII broke out and she left college early to work for Douglas Aircraft. After retirement she returned and finished her degree at Mount St. Mary's, the oldest gradate, at that time, at the age of 74.

Ruth was a plant manager at a manufacturing plant, for 30 years, in West Los Angeles, with a union labor force. When a new owner told her "…women can't be the Controller" she became the General Manager.

In retirement Ruth was very active and adventurous, she enjoyed traveling the world, did a semester abroad in Barcelona, Spain, at the age of 73, completed a ½ marathon in Hawaii, at the age of 77, zip-lined on her honeymoon in the Costa Rican jungle, at the age of 85. She was also a serial volunteer and was docent for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles Zoo, Segerstrom Center for the Arts and the Santa Ana Zoo. Additionally, she was very involved in the Catholic Church.

Ruth is survived by her two children and daughter-in-law, Stephanie McMahon and Tim & Cathy De Cou. She has 5 grandchildren – Kelly (Michael), Bill, Kaela (Brian), Patrick (Erin), Scott; 4 great grandchildren Cara, Maya, Ryan and Lila and over 30 nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. She was predeceased by her husbands, Lorenzo De Cou, Bob Dailey and Hugh Spilsbury.

Funeral mass will be celebrated on September 16, 2022, at 10:30 AM, at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Irvine, CA.