Named in 1941 for Ruth Elizabeth Olwin (1919-2006), who would become Mrs. John M. Senour a year later. I don’t know where the “lee” in Ruthlee came from – perhaps a pet name? – but I can tell you that this street originated on a tract owned by Ruth’s parents Howard a.k.a. “Ray” (1888-1953) and Edna (1886-1980) Olwin. They were both Midwesterners who, after a short spell in Montana, moved to Pasadena c. 1912; that’s where their three children were born. They were in San Gabriel by 1920. Their tract here also included Doris and Willard avenues, and the Olwins’ other kids were indeed named Doris and Willard – yet Willard Avenue was actually named in 1904 by one Cyrus Willard! It was just a happy accident that the Olwins’ land sat on what would be a natural northern extension of Willard Ave. As for this street’s namesake, Ruth Senour had two sons, lived in Pasadena for decades, then spent her final years where her parents spent theirs: in La Verne.
Find it on the map:
