Mary Lou Woodruff

It is with great sadness we announce the death of Mary Lou Woodruff. She passed away on February 8, 2025, at her home in Larkspur. Mary Lou was extremely passionate about family and friends. She was a self-sacrificing mother who always put other’s needs above of her own.

Irish by identity, her mother hailed from Galway and her faither from Cork. Oldest of three, she was born on the North Side of Chicago on April 4th 1941. Mary Lou graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1963.

Ready to embark on a new adventure she headed to California in her 1964 Red Volkswagen Beetle. She started working as an ICU nurse at St. Mary’s hospital and a nursing instructor at St. Joseph’s hospital for 4 years. She was part of the first union organizing drive for the California Nurses Association.

San Francisco is where she met her husband Roy in 1966. Her, a city girl and him, a farmer from Arizona. They were married in 1967 and were very happy together for 58 years. They moved to Marin in 1969. First to San Rafael, then settling in Larkspur where they bought the lot and built their family home and have been there ever since.

Her lifelong career as Registered Nurse continued in Marin, beginning at Ross Hospital and then transferred to Marin General where she worked for 41 years proudly going above and beyond for everyone in her care. She absolutely loved being a nurse and considered it her calling in life. Making many life-long friends throughout her over 50 years career in nursing.

One of Mary Lou’s favorite things in life was traveling. She loved traveling the world with her family and friends. Some of her favorite trips were to Australia, Thailand, Japan and of course many trips to Ireland.

Mary Lou is survived by her husband Roy, two beautiful daughters Jennifer and Kathleen who have followed her example of public service in their respective careers.

The funeral mass will take place at St. Patrick’s Parish in Larkspur on Monday, February 24th

at 10 am.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to St. Vincent De Paul of San Francisco 1175 Howard Street, San Francisco CA 94103 https://svdp-sf.org/get-involved/donate/

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