The Oaks Family

In 2007, Ruth and Jim Oaks stayed at the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House to be close to their daughter, Katlyn, who was being treated for Mitochondrial Disease at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Walking through the threshold of the Ronald McDonald House was sobering for Ruth who stayed at the house 20 years earlier when her sister, Samantha, was undergoing treatment for brain cancer.

To memorialize Samantha and pay homage to the place that for years, has served as the Oaks family’s home-away-from-home, Katlyn and her parents raised $25,000 for the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House. The generous donation provided the Oaks family naming rights for a room, which they titled “Samantha and Kate’s Place, In Memory of Samantha.”