California Republican Sen. Sharon Ruer of Lancaster dies

SACRAMENTO >> Califoia Sen. Sharon Ruer, a Lancaster Republican who struggled for years with health problems, died Thursday at home at 62 following respiratory complications, her family and a spokeswoman said in a statement.

“We take comfort in the fact that the Lord truly directed her path, and she is now home in the arms of her Savior,” Ruer’s family said in the statement.

Ruer, a conservative who served in the state Assembly from 2002 to 2008, was elected to the Senate in 2011 but did not seek re-election in 2012 after undergoing a double lung transplant. She was treated for limited scleroderma, or CREST syndrome, an autoimmune condition that attacks the body’s coective tissue.

After recovering, she won a special election last year and retued to the Senate before her health again took a tu for the worse, keeping her away from the Legislature for much of this year.

Ruer and her husband, George Ruer, a member of the Board of Equalization, are a powerful force in the Califoia GOP. They were the first couple to serve concurrently in the Legislature after Sharon Ruer won her husband’s Assembly seat in 2002, when he moved up to the Senate.

She often called herself “the fuer Ruer” compared to the more serious George.

The duo co-authored Califoia’s Jessica’s Law, approved by voters in 2006 to restrict sex offenders from living near parks, schools and other places where children congregate.

Before embarking on their political careers, the Ruers co-founded Desert Christian Schools, which have grown to three campuses with nearly 1,700 students.

Califoia Republican Party Chairman Jim Brulte said in a statement that Ruer’s life was one of service.

“Whether it was establishing a Christian day school to help educate children, serving first in the Califoia State Assembly and then in the Califoia State Senate, or fighting for initiatives to protect families in Califoia, Sharon was committed to the people of her community and our great state,” Brulte said.

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