This is a hard one. Ruth was one of my dearest friends going all the back to teaching kindergarten together at SKCS. As a young teacher with a lot to learn, the Lord put me in trailer next to the best teacher I ever knew. Ruth was a wonderful example of a teacher who loved children and loved teaching. She shared the things she loved with her students, two being her knowledge birds and her musical talent. I remember bundling the kindergarteners up and going out to play in the snow. I remember field trips to the Catskills Game Fame and to a beaver pond on the East Meredith Road. I remember swapping our classes, for half an hour twice a week, so my students could have a special music time with Ruth that they wouldn’t have had with me. I can remember taking picnic lunches and crossing Route 10 and hiking up the mountain, back when insurance still allowed these fun times. I remember big easels in the kindergarten rooms where the kids got to paint every day.
I remember talking to Ruth about her family and it was was obvious how much she loved Floyd and her children. I remember her beautiful quilts. One summer when we were visiting, Roger and I got to sleep under one of her special quilts. I remember Roger and me sitting on Ruth’s stone porch in the fresh year, eating sandwiches and fresh fruit, and drinking tea while we caught up on all that had happened since our last summer’s visit. She always always interested in what Roger was doing in education. She remembered our kids and later grandchildren’s names and always asked about them. She was a very special, once in a lifetime friend. I love you, Ruth and will miss our visits, but someday we’ll meet again praising our Lord and Savior and enjoying each other’s company for an eternity.
