KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – On Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, Ruth Leone Sweet Kjos joined beloved husband Chander and youngest son Steven in peaceful rest at her home in Kelseyville.

Ruth was born on July 22, 1919, in Pontiac, Michigan, to Joseph and Ellen Sweet.

Her first 10 years were spent on a small farm in Lapeer, Michigan. In 1929 she and her widowed mother moved to Lake Orion, Michigan, where Ruth finished high school and attended business school, working subsequently for the Pontiac Motor Division and at Willow Run for the Ford Motor Co.

In 1942, answering her country’s call, she joined the Women’s Army Corps and shipped out to Hollandia, New Guinea for the duration of the second World War.

She met and married Chander Kjos in New Guinea. The couple returned to Chander’s hometown of Mayville, North Dakota. She attended Mayville State Teachers college on the GI Bill and earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education.

Shortly after finishing college they moved to Northern California, settling in Kelseyville in 1958. Here they raised two sons, Loren and Steven, and two daughters, Becky and Ellen.

Ruth worked at the Clear Lake State Park for 15 years. This job put her in daily contact with the natural world that she so loved. She found joy and blessings watching birds.

She was an active member of the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church for many years. She belonged to American Legion Post 194 in Kelseyville. She became interested in genealogy after retirement and compiled a lengthy and detailed history of her maternal grandfather’s family during that time.

Ruth was preceded in death by husband, Chander, and son, Steven.

She is survived by daughter, Becky (Jack); son, Loren, and his children, Evan and Kristina, and Kristina’s children, Amelia and Patty; daughter, Ellen, and her children, Chris (Cristie), Merlyn (Rachel) and Bill.

From Methodist Pastor John Wesley, written in 1799: “Do all the good you can, to all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as you ever can.”

She lived these words.

A private service will be held with arrangements being handled by Jones Mortuary.



The family is requesting donations to the either Clear Lake State Park Interpretive Association
5300 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville, CA 95451, or the Lake County Military Funeral Honors Team, P.O. Box 1365, Kelseyville, CA 95451.