Even in the worst of times, Ruth (Uomoto) Young displayed a cheerful, gentle and loving nature, and an eagerness to do her job well.

In the last two years of her life, cancer invaded her bones, eventually causing her leg to swell and leaving her with a limp. In the last few months, chemotherapy treatment drained her energy, and she frequently felt ill. Yet she still volunteered to clean the homes of friends and family members who needed help or who were unable to do so.

"Ruth was passionate about people and had a desire to help them in their need," said Norman Young, Ruth's husband of 22 years.

Ruth also had a passion for cleanliness. Which is probably why she excelled in the field of quality assurance. For 18 years, she worked to ensure the quality of Golden Grain food products at its factory in Seattle. Starbucks later asked her to manage the quality of coffee beans at a new roasting plant in Carson City, Nev., one of five such plants worldwide. She did so for more than seven years, until 2009. Her boss described her as a perfectionist who wouldn't leave the office until her work was complete -- and flawless.

Those traits were evident in Ruth's childhood, too. Born Feb 4, 1957, in Sendai, Japan, she was the seventh child of 11 of Orthodox Presbyterian missionaries George and Fumi Uomoto. With so many siblings under one roof, housework piled up. Yet when a chore came Ruth's way, she gladly did it, even as friends and fun activities beckoned elsewhere. She was the neat one, the organized one, said Ruth's sister Faith Uyesugi.

As a student, Ruth "showed a keen and inquisitive mind," said missionary Cal Cummings, who taught one of her history classes at Christian Academy in Japan and who with his wife Edie, housed Ruth and four of her sisters while they attended high school in Tokyo.

Ruth graduated from the University of Washington with a food sciences degree in 1980. In 1989, she married Norman Young. They enjoyed traveling and outdoor pursuits. Ruth completed three official marathon walks, in Seattle, Portland and Lake Tahoe. Five times she finished the Courage Classic, a 173-mile bicycle ride covering more than 11,000 feet of elevation over three Cascade mountain passes.

She was resilient, and for awhile, nothing seemed to slow her down. Even cancer. Following surgery to treat breast cancer in 1997, doctors told her to take it easy for a few weeks. She returned to work three days later. Three months later, she was pedaling in a Courage Classic.

"If she set her mind on something she'd go after it," said Ruth's sister Estelle Vollmecke. "She figured out what she had to do for it, and she did it. She pretty much approached everything that way."

Ruth had an adventuresome spirit. She delighted in learning about unfamiliar cultures and trying new ethnic cuisines. Her travels with Norman included trips to Japan, Hawaii, and California wine country in Napa and Sonoma. "No matter where we went we would always have an amazing time," Norman said.

Ruth also liked to enjoy some of life's simple pleasures: Taking a swim. Watching figure skating. Savoring a delectable dessert.

She had a sweet tooth. And even when she cut back on refined sugars late in life as part of her cancer treatment plan, she researched and discovered new ways to feed her craving. She made a raw cheesecake with cashews, and a chocolate cake out of beets.

They were delicious -- and healthy.

Throughout her life, Ruth turned to the Lord for spiritual sustenance. She and Norman helped Seattle's Faith Bible Church expand into Bellevue, Wash., with the 2001 opening of Lighthouse Christian Church, and they became two of its first members. Ruth drew strength and inspiration from two scripture verses in particular:

Ephesians 3:20: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us."

And Psalms 32:8: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you."

She liked the verses so much that about a year ago she printed them out and taped them underneath her computer monitor. She saw them nearly every day until her death Sept. 7, 2011, at age 54, and they reminded her of God's promises.

Ruth is survived by Norman; her mother; brothers Calvin, Murray and Earl; and sisters Lois, Estelle, Faith, Hope, Grace, Joyce and Julie.