Mrs. Mottet believed in letting democracy reign
Sunday, March 2, 2008 6:13 AM PST
By Barbara LaBoe
blaboe@tdn.com
Printable version
E-mail this articleRuth Carey Mottet lived her life by the Democratic ideal - both the lower and upper case versions.
Not only were she and her husband dedicated Democratic Party volunteers and active in local charities, they also regularly gave their five children a say in family decisions. Once, the couple even let the children outvote them on whether to get a television. (The children, fearing the loss of their playroom, voted no, said daughter Nancy Elbert, chuckling at how soon they regretted their decision).
"My parents were very democratic. We did get to discuss family policies all the time," Elbert, of Tacoma, said. "Mother really wanted us all to learn to express ourselves."
Ruth died in her sleep Feb. 23. She was 90 and had been in declining health for the past few years, said daughter Ann Mottet of Longview.
Ruth was born on Vashon Island in 1917 and was reared in Kirkland, Wash. She met her husband, Arthur Mottet, at a freshman mixer at the University of Washington. They married in 1940 and moved to Longview the same year that Art took a job in research and development with Long Bell Laboratories.
Raised Republicans, the turmoil surrounding the Vietnam war and their deep religious faith led both Ruth and Art and to the Democratic Party. They helped form the local Eugene McCarthy for President group in 1967, which later became affiliated with the Democratic Party. And they alternated as Democratic committee precinct chairwoman and chairman for several years.
The couple also was active in the peace movement, and Ruth was featured in The Daily News during the Vietnam War as one of three local women in the "Another Mother for Peace" movement.
"I really think it was her Christianity and the nuclear threat and just this deep belief in love and not killing," said Ann Mottet. "She also was against the war in Iraq from the beginning. She knew it was folly before it began. And leading up to the primary (this month) Mama was so excited that there was the possibility of a woman or a black man for president. She was just thrilled."
Ruth also was willing to give of her time to help anyone in need - even if it meant leaving her Thanksgiving dinner table.
She was active in several church and school organizations - including the Episcopal Women's Council, the Heart Fund and the PTA. She was a longtime room mother at her children's school, as well as a Brownie and Girl Scout leader and Sunday school teacher. In the 1970s, Ruth co-founded the local FISH charity and was active in it for more than 20 years.
As head of FISH volunteers, Ruth often would take the holiday shifts that no one else wanted. More than once she'd serve a holiday dinner to her large extended family and then have a child or two help deliver meals to people stranded at bus stations or train depots.
"She didn't make a big deal out of it, she just did it," said Elbert.
"Everybody that's been fortunate ought to be able to do something for somebody less fortunate," Ruth explained in a 1983 interview with The Daily News. "Sometimes I do get weary and burned off, but I pray about it, do something that's a change and realize how dreadful it must be to be poor. ... I am so lucky that I can share."
Ruth also ran the St. Stephen Episcopal Church kitchen for two decades, serving more than 200 people at the annual bazaar fund-raiser. In tribute, several of the women she helped train provided the meal following Thursday's funeral service.
In additon to Elbert and Ann Mottet, Ruth also had daughter Carolyn Fox, and sons Arthur L. Mottet Jr., and Harold Mottet, all of whom survive her.
Despite all her charities and children's activities, though, Elbert said the true love of her mother's life was her husband of 64 years.
"She was always there for us and there was usually whole wheat bread coming out of the oven when we arrived home for school, and if not that then cookies," Elbert said. "But when Daddy came home, when she saw the car in the driveway, she stopped whatever she was doing, dried off her hands and walked to the front door and he got some smooches."
Once, when the children protested their parents leaving them behind for a trip to California, Ruth even "gave a little speech at the dinner table," about how a husband wife are just as important to each other as their children, Elbert said.
"They had a love affair for over 60 years," said Elbert, who after her father's 2004 death found a stash of Valentines from Ruth that he had saved for years. "They always had a twinkle for each other."
Ken wrote on Mar 2, 2008 5:33 PM:
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