Ruth Ella Thomas, 84, of SeaTac, Wash., died Dec. 21, 2016. She was the widow of Norman J. Thomas, who was posthumously awarded the medal in 1990 in recognition of his July 30, 1989, attempt to save four teenage girls from drowning in the Pacific Ocean at Ocean Park, Wash. In keeping with Andrew Carnegie’s wishes that dependents of those who give their lives for others “should not suffer pecuniarily,” Mrs. Thomas was given periodic assistance to help with living costs.