Obituary of Rebecca Ruth Bendickson

Rebecca Ruth (Wooldridge) Bendickson, age 66, died peacefully in hospice care in Tucson, Arizona on December 14, 2018 after a long battle with lung cancer. Known as Ruth to her family and friends she was born on September 13, 1952 in Leitchfield, Kentucky. As a young woman, she made a new life for herself around 40 years ago by moving to Tucson, Arizona. Ruth worked several years as a CNA hospice caregiver, providing her clients personalized and compassionate end-of-life healthcare. Ruth was a very spiritual Catholic and faced her passing from this life in same manner she had always lived it, boldly, without compromise, and on God's terms. Ruth was a very caring wife, sister, aunt, neighbor, and friend. Ruth was preceded in death by her best friend and husband of 23 years, Bruce Lee Bendickson, who passed away in 2006. Bruce was the only child of Burnett and Pearle Bendickson (both deceased). He was a graduate of Arizona University who worked as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft. Ruth is survived by her brothers: Joseph Asa Wooldridge of Palmyra, Indiana; Phillip Thomas (Anita Duarte) Wooldridge of Greenville, South Carolina; and John Anthony (Carol Baldwin) Wooldridge of Pocahontas, Illinois; her brother-in-law Thomas Anthony (Tony) Howard of Louisville, Kentucky; five nieces and nephews, and three grand nieces and nephews. Her only sister Patricia Ann (Wooldridge) Howard, her parents, James Anthony and Mary Angela (Milliner) Wooldridge; her paternal grandparents, Allen Thomas and Mary Grace (McChesney) Wooldridge; and her maternal grandparents, William Asa and Pearl Ellen (Condor) Milliner, preceded her in death. Ruth's family and friends offer their deepest appreciation to the doctors, nurses, and other medical staff of Pathways Hospice and especially the truly outstanding care givers at the Haven on Mayberry home hospice, and to all those who were with us on this final journey. In accordance with her final wishes, Ruth chose cremation without ceremony. Her ashes will be interred side-by-side with her husband's ashes in perpetuity, in the Bendickson family plot at East Lawn Palms Cemetery, Tucson, Arizona. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to the American Cancer Society https://www.cancer.org/.