RUTHE GOLDSWORTHY DESKIN

From Pizen Switch to Distinguished Nevadan

My mother, Ruthe Deskin, a third-generation Nevadan, was an accomplished journalist who championed disadvantaged children in her community. 

She was born on February 20, 1916, to James G. and Viola A. West Goldsworthy, in Yerington, Nevada, once known as Pizen Switch.  Through the years, she was fondly referred to by others as “the girl from Pizen Switch.” 

During her school years, she served as the editor of the high school newspaper and captain of the championship girls’ basketball team.  Her best friend Mugs (Marjorie Guild Russell), who later became the wife of Governor Charles Russell, nicknamed her “Cutie” which stuck throughout high school.

When she graduated from high school, her father moved the family into Reno as he was determined to have his children attend college.                       

She graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) in 1937 with a degree in journalism. She had a deep respect and admiration for Professor Higginbotham, the chairman of the journalism department. This was in spite of the fact he felt women would have a most challenging time establishing a career in journalism.

After graduation she married Elwin Jeffers in 1937.  They had two daughters, Nancy and Terry. Elwin worked for the Nevada State Employment Department in the Lovelock office. Ruthe remained a stay-at-home mom. He was transferred to the Las Vegas office and the family lived there until World War II broke out.  Elwin joined the U.S. Navy and Ruthe loaded her two children in an old Ford and headed back to Reno.

Shortly thereafter, she went to work in Herlong, California at the Army Ordinance Depot where she was the director of employee relations.  Her job included putting out the base newspaper, The Challenge.

Later, she became the society editor for the Reno Evening Gazette.  After the war, she and Elwin divorced. In 1947, she married James Deskin. Jim, employed by the State of Nevada Employment Department, was transferred to the Las Vegas office.  The family moved into a home in Henderson.

Jim was working on a program for the city and was assigned to do a radio piece about the program.  Ruthe actually wrote the script for him.  When the manager of the radio station KENO read it, he was so impressed that he asked Jim if she would like to go to work for the station, and she did.

She went on to work for KLAS radio where she had a 15-minute radio program called “Southern Nevada Today.”  She really enjoyed that because, as she later stated, ”I was only a voice and nobody was looking at me, and I liked it that way.”   My sister and I did commercials for her and would often race from school at noontime to the station where we would do the live commercials as well as get to watch our mother interview such celebrities as Liberace and Glenn Ford. 

Later she went to work for Art Force who ran an advertising agency.  Their office was in the El Cortez Hotel.  When she was approached by Hank Greenspun, the owner of the Las Vegas Sun, to edit the Sunday edition of the newspaper, she turned the offer down because she was making more money with Art and his agency.  Much to her surprise, Hank upped the ante and made her an offer she decided to accept.  Her first months at the Sun were quite different for her.  She wasn’t absolutely certain what her position was and why they thought they needed her.  She did express to family members that she wasn’t sure she had made the right decision.

Then one day Hank landed in the hospital.   Ruthe made sure that he was kept up to date with frequent memos. When Hank got back to the paper, he asked her to continue writing them.  This was the start of “Memo to Hank” which became her signature piece. At this point her newspaper career took off.  She remained with the Las Vegas Sun for 50 years retaining the title Assistant to the Publisher.  She had a steady stream of fans through the years who read her columns religiously.  One fan wrote, “the beautiful thing about Ruthe was she never attacked.  No matter how outrageous some elected official’s behavior might be.  She could always make her point without denigrating or degrading another human being. I call it the Deskin Doctrine: 

“You can oppose without hating, you can win without destroying.”

Besides writing a column and her duties as Hank’s assistant, she found time to become very active in the community.  When Hank envisioned a forum for youth, Ruthe took on the challenge of coordinating what has become an annual event, the Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum.  She was a champion for children, especially the vulnerable and troubled ones and served on the Clark County Juvenile Services Board for many years.  She was also one of the founders of the Child Haven Shelter for abused and neglected children.  Close to her heart was her involvement as a board member of the Spring Mountain Youth Camp.  The camp, established in the 1970s, provides male juvenile offenders 12-18 years old with a comprehensive approach to rehabilitation.  I remember attending one of the graduation ceremonies with my mother.  A young man approached her, put his arms around her and thanked her for providing him with the opportunity to turn his life around.

Her advocacy and support for young people were recognized when the Ruthe Deskin Elementary School in Las Vegas was dedicated in her honor in 1988.  On the stage with Ruthe were several Nevada luminaries, including Governor Richard Bryan, former governors Mike O’Callaghan, Robert List and Kenny Guinn, U.S. Senator Harry Reid, U.S. Representative Jim Bilbray and Brian Greenspun, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun. 

Ruthe was installed as the first woman president of the Las Vegas Press Club in 1953.  She also served a term as president of the Nevada State Press Association.  She was named “Woman of the Year” by the Nevada Women’s Political Caucus in 1980.  She received the Silver Makeup Rule award from the Nevada Press Association in 1984 and the Woman of Achievement Award from the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce in 1987.  In 1980, the University Board of Regents named her a Distinguished Nevadan. The date of October 12 that same year was proclaimed Ruthe Deskin Day at the Nevada State Legislature.

She actually never officially retired and wrote her column up to the time she died.  Very few people realized that she never used her office in the new Sun building.  Instead, she wrote her column for almost a year from home where she died on February 14, 2004.

Ruthe Viola Deskin is buried in the Palm Downtown Cemetery, Roses I Mausoleum, West Wall,  Las Vegas, Nevada, with her husband James E. Deskin.

After her death, a number of accolades were written in her memory.  Former Governor Mike O’Callaghan called her his “friend and mentor for almost half a century.  The values she brought to journalism have had a positive impact on thousands of people who worked with her or read her columns. As a role model, she has been a shining light for the Silver State.”

At the memorial service, O’Callaghan described her as a “giant who was never a harsh judge of others.”  An example of this was Don Pribble who added a note in the memorial book thanking her and Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun for their support.  Pribble was selected by Ruthe as the first recipient of the Las Vegas Sun Scholarship in 1958.  Haunted by alcoholism, Pribble dropped out of UNR after two years.  He lost several jobs over the years due to his drinking problem.  In the mid 1980’s he went to the Sun office and interviewed for a job selling advertising for the Nellis Air Force Base Bullseye newspaper which the Sun at the time was contracted to publish.  She gave him a second chance which he said, “helped save me.”  He joined Alcoholics Anonymous, returned to school and in 1989 earned a communications degree from UNLV.

Senator Harry Reid shared this story. Reid had known her as a student at Basic High when he participated in the first-ever Sun Youth Forum. He had once said that “Ruthe is what Nevada is all about.”

Ruthe, who had long supported Reid in his political career, criticized him for not revealing the sources of funding in a political action committee, saying he was “caught in a web of distrust.”  Shortly after the column was published, Reid disclosed the sources.  “I was under no legal obligation to make the disclosure, but if Ruthe Deskin didn’t like it, then I had better not be doing it.  I didn’t want Ruthe to be disappointed in me.”

“Ruthe Deskin represented not only the conscience of the Las Vegas Sun but, for 50 years, the conscience of Las Vegas,” said Sun editor and president Brian Greenspun, Hank’s eldest son.

My mother was an extremely modest person who did not seek the limelight.  However, she often found herself in it anyway because of her accomplishments and her passion for the causes in which she so deeply believed.  She was a voice of reason, a champion for the young and vulnerable, compassionate and caring, true to her ideals and convictions through the power of her pen as well as the way she lived her life.

Researched and written by Nancy Cummings Schmidt, 2026. Posted August 2026.