THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 TAG: 9610290243
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B9 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: 28 lines
Helen Cooney Ruth, 81, died unexpectedly Sunday, Oct. 27, 1996. A lifelong resident of Phoebus, she was a member of St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Fort Monroe.
Mrs. Ruth retired in 1978 after 25 years as a secretary in the Public Works Department of the City of Hampton. During the years that her children were growing up, she divided her time between the PTA of Phoebus Elementary School, Buckroe Junior High School and Hampton High School. She was a past president of the Phoebus Woman's Club.
Survivors include her husband, Richard A. Ruth III; four sons, Richard A. Ruth IV of Janesville, Pa., the Rev. Robert F. Ruth of Norfolk, John N. Ruth of Hampton and Dr. Thomas J. Ruth of Vancouver, B.C.; two sisters, Frances C. Wagner and Richanda W. Cooney, both of Hampton; 10 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by her son, the Rev. Robert F. Ruth at 10 a.m. Wednesday in St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church. Burial will follow in Oakland Cemetery, Hampton. There will be a Christian Wake Service at 7 p.m. today in R. Hayden Smith Funeral Home, Hampton, after which the family will receive friends until 8 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the Phoebus Woman's Club Memorial Fund, c/o Mrs. Shirley Boyd, 11 Berkley Drive, Hampton, Va. 23663.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB