M. Ruth DeBoy

(31 March 1922 – 4 September, 2015)

Margaret Ruth Christian was born in Baltimore on March 31, 1922, to Thomas William Christian, Jr. and Mabel Margaret Wilhelmina Heise, the eldest of four children. When Ruth was two, she and her parents moved to Halethorpe, where she later attended Ascension Catholic Grammar School and Church. She graduated from Seton Catholic High School in 1940 and went to work at Montgomery Ward headquarters. Later, she was employed by Revere Copper and Brass, where she became head of the payroll department.

On June 20, 1945, Ruth married John M. DeBoy. They had three sons and two daughters. She worked at home for some twenty-five years to raise the children. The family first lived in West Baltimore, near St. William of York Church and School. In 1950, they moved to a newly-built home in nearby Hunting Ridge. The arrival of their fifth child preceded their 1960 move to a larger home in Howard County, near Ellicott City. In 1977, she and John downsized to a smaller home in the same neighborhood.

When her children were grown, Ruth rejoined the workforce at the newly-opened Columbia Mall as a salesperson at Woodward & Lothrop. Later, she volunteered at the Howard County Workshop, eventually becoming an employee with the title of certified Vocational Education Specialist. Ruth worked there until the age of seventy-four. In her spare time, she danced with the tap dancing group “Golden Girls”, which performed at local senior centers.

In 1994, a decade after John died, Ruth moved into the Charlestown Retirement Community, where she lived independently for the next twenty-one years. At Charlestown, she pursued interests in financial planning, acting, art, swimming, board games, and volunteering. Ruth enjoyed traveling with her fellow residents and youngest daughter Jennifer to such places as Florida, New England, Las Vegas, California, Quebec, Iceland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Hungary.

She also loved to spend time with friends and family, especially her children (Jack and Lorraine, Jim and Joanne, Elaine and Jerry, Dennis and Lori, and Jen and Gary), her six grandchildren (Kathy, Scott, Noah, Chris, Luke, and Lauren), three step-grandchildren (Andy, Paul and Joe), and Noah and Kristen’s son Wilson, her only great-grandchild. Ruth passed away peacefully at age 93, on September 4, 2015, surrounded by her children, their spouses, and her grandchildren.

Relatives and friends are invited to visit at the Sterling Ashton Schwab Witzke Funeral Home of Catonsville, Inc., 1630 Edmondson Ave., Catonsville, MD 21228 on Sunday, September 13, from 2pm to 4pm and 6pm to 8pm and a half hour before the funeral service. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, September 14, 11:00am at the Our Lady of the Angels Chapel at Charlestown Retirement Community, 715 Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville, MD 21228. Interment Crestlawn Memorial Gardens.