Mary Ellen was born in San Luis Obispo, California, with her parents George W. and Ellen Ruby Rubottom and her older brother Bill. After leaving San Luis at the age of five, the family moved to the Santa Clara-San Jose area where she went through school. Her love of gardening started at a very young age. When she walked home from grade school she would stop along the way and pick big bouquets of flowers, sometimes getting in trouble for taking too long. Spending many summers in Felton at the family vacation cabin she loved to go swimming in the river with her friends and enjoyed dances at the Coconut Grove in Santa Cruz. Later in Felton at the Quistorf Garage, she met a young man by the name of Albert Achterberg who became her husband of over 50 years until his passing in 1992. Her family and her husband's family Quistorf, Dahl, and Burns have deep roots in the Felton, Bonny Doon, and Ben Lomond area going back many generations, and they named portions of the Bonny Doon area because it reminded them of their homeland.

Mary Ellen is survived by her son, Robert Achterberg, and his wife, Lynne of Santa Cruz, and a daughter, Janet Oneto, and her husband, Larry of Scotts Valley, her granddaughter Heather Wildharber, and her husband, John of San Luis Obispo, and her grandson, Robert Oneto of Scotts Valley. Mary Ellen loved life and enjoyed traveling. Her first commercial plane flight at the age of ninety took her to Seattle. The trip included a boat ride over to Vancouver to the Empress Hotel for tea and a good nights rest, then off to the Butchart Gardens. It was a gardener's dream! After the fear of flying left her, it was off to Las Vegas. She truly enjoyed the one-armed bandits. She loved tending her yard at Spring Lakes Park and took great pride when neighbors would walk by and tell her how beautiful she kept everything. She definitely had a way with flowers. She also loved her volunteer work at the Scotts Valley Senior Center where she volunteered for over 15 years. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her. Services will be private at her request.

A celebration of her life will be held at the Scotts Valley Senior Center, April 4th at 3:00 pm. Donations may be made to the Scotts Valley Senior Center at 370 Kings Village Road, Scotts Valley, CA. 95066 or Hospice of Santa Cruz County, 940 Disc Drive, Scotts Valley, CA. 95066 in her memory. We love you Mom!

Published by Santa Cruz Sentinel on Mar. 12, 2009