Adleson, Alice Ruth

Alice Ruth Adleson - age: 87
(July 11, 1925 to November 24, 2012 )
Resident of Tahoe City, California

Obituary:
Alice Ruth (Thompson-Casale) Adleson
July 11, 1925 – November 24, 2012
On November 24, 2012, at 87 years old, Alice Ruth Adleson passed away peacefully in Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee, California from community-acquired pneumonia. Her son Frank and his wife Tess were at her bedside.
Alice was born at Laughlin Station in Redwood Valley, California, the youngest and last surviving child of Walter Thompson (b. 1887, Little River, California) and Carrie (Carter) Thompson (b. 1890, Albion, California. She was raised on the family homestead in Laughlin Station with her beloved sisters and brothers. Alice attended Redwood Valley Elementary School. As a teenager, she moved to El Cerrito and lived with her brother Walt and his wife, Dorothy for 3 or 4 years while going to high school.
As a young war bride in 1944, Alice traveled by train from California to Massachusetts to live with her husband Frank John Casale’s family for the duration of WWII. In 1945, Alice gave birth to her son Frank Casale while living in Massachusetts. In 1946, pregnant with her daughter Camille, Alice, her husband, and her son moved back to California. Alice lived a great portion of her life in the San Francisco Bay Area, although she kept in touch with the Casale’s in Massachusetts over the years and was very close to that family.
In 1954 Alice attended Palo Alto Secretarial School and learned to use the comptometer. After graduating, she worked at a bank in Palo Alto and eventually went to work at Borden’s Dairy Company (lots of ice cream at home!). By then, she was an experienced comptometer operator.
In 1968 Alice was re-married to Frank Adleson, who was her devoted and loving husband until his passing in 1987. A resident of Sunnyvale, California for over 30 years, Alice and Frank shared a life full of family, friends, and dogs and were partners in The Bicycle Tree from 1972 – 1989. The business was successful and allowed them to travel abroad for Peugeot bicycle shows and see the world together. They loved road trips. In later years, Alice and her sisters would take road trips and of course had plenty of food in the car to nibble on along the way. Don’t forget how they all loved playing cards.
Alice loved tending to the flowers in her garden and was an avid reader. She and Frank enjoyed novels and would read to each other at night. On road trips, they listened to books on tape.
Alice’s door was always open. She took pleasure in cooking for the family and always had a stocked cupboard and refrigerator for anyone who might stop by. She loved her coffee, cakes, and candy.
In 2007 Alice became very ill and would not be able to live alone again, but she was adamant she was not going to live in a “rest home.” Her son Frank and daughter-in-law Tess invited her and her dog Keike to live with them in Tahoe City, California. Although her health was sometimes touch-and-go, Alice had a very strong will to live. Her doctors were always amazed at how she kept pulling through.
Alice was always supportive and encouraging of her family’s choices in life. “Nona” was a wonderful grandmother and great-grandmother and they were always in her heart. She was filled with compassion and interested in other’s lives. Alice made friends easily. Her Tahoe physical therapy group loved her and was deeply saddened by her death. Alice went to PT twice a week for several years and made a wonderful friend there, Carol. Carol would pick Alice up for PT and afterwards they would go to lunch and sometimes a bit of shopping.
A few years ago, after the funeral of her brother, Lester, Alice decided to start making arrangements for her own funeral. She wanted to be buried at Ukiah Cemetery and selected the casket and headstone. She wanted Ave Maria played and asked that Frank Adleson’s urn of ashes be included in her casket. Alice told everyone at Lester’s funeral that she expected them to be at her funeral and would be watching…don’t you just love her!
Everyone who knew her will miss Alice’s warm and loving soul. She is survived by her children, Frank Casale and his wife Tess, Camille Casale and her husband Gary Lynch, stepchildren Stacy Adleson, Sydney Noe and her husband Michel, Susan Swensen, Lief Adleson and his wife Maggie, and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and friends.
Alice was preceded in death by her parents Walter and Carrie Thompson, husband Frank Adleson, brothers George, Ralph, Lester, and Walter and his wife Dorothy, sisters Bernice and her husband George Kovach, Frances and her husband Edward Espinosa, and Frank John Casale.
God has called Alice home into the waiting arms of her mother Carrie, who passed away when Alice was only 12 years old. She missed her mother all of her life, during her teenage years, her marriage, and the birth of her two babies. Alice was looking forward to being with all of those she loved and missed.
We celebrate her life and mourn the loss of a wonderful woman. Alice was loved and admired by family and friends and we all have special memories of her life. When fragrant blossoms linger in the air, she will be near.
Funeral Service
Monday, January 14, 2013 at 2:00 PM
Russian River Cemetery Chapel
940 Low Gap Road, Ukiah
707-462-8012