Obituary of Ruth Moody Nicastro

Ruth Moody Nicastro, 90, of Los Angeles, CA, passed away on March 28th, 2016 in Thousand Oaks, CA. A memorial service will be held at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, 3590 Grand View Blvd, Los Angeles on Sunday, April 17th 2016 at 2:00 PM with The Very Rev. Canon James Newman, Rector of St. Bede’s, officiating. The Preacher will be The Right Reverend Frederick Borsch, 5th Bishop of Los Angeles. Rose Family Funeral Home will be handling the funeral arrangements. Ruth was born in San Fernando, CA to Clyde and Gertrude (Moody) Reeves on January 18th, 1926. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Pomona College. She worked for Macmillan Publishing in both San Francisco and New York, where she met her husband of 65 years, Leo. Together, they enjoyed camping, traveling, music, dancing, theater, raising children, and finally grandchildren. Ruth was named diocesan missioner for communication and editor of the diocesan newspaper in 1977, a position she held until her retirement in 1993. Well known across the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion for her award-winning expertise, Ruth was in 1986-89 president of the church-wide Episcopal Communicators and in 1988 a member of the international Lambeth Conference communication team, serving at the invitation of then-Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie. She also served the presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church as an editor of the General Convention Daily. At her retirement, Bishop Borsch named her an honorary canon of the Cathedral Center of St. Paul. A devoted volunteer serving two diocesan institutions, Ruth was a board member of Pasadena's Hillsides Home for Children and president of the Friends of the Neighborhood Youth Association, a Los Angeles agency based near her longtime Mar Vista residence. She was in recent years a parishioner and former vestry member of St. Bede's Church, Mar Vista. Ruth is survived by her husband, Leo of Los Angeles, sons Stephen, Mark, and David, their wives Theresa, Robin, and Sue, and grandchildren Michael, Max, Kaitlyn, and Sam. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations in Ruth’s name may be made to Neighborhood Youth Association, 1016 Pleasantview Ave., Venice, CA 90291.