Ruth K Phillips

Ruth was born on March 13, 1928, the youngest of seven, and raised in West Hartford, CT. She worked her way through school, initially attending Hartford Junior College and then graduating from Mount Holyoke College with a BA in History in 1949. She worked in public relations first at Colby Jr. College in New London, NH, then Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD while doing free-lance writing on the side. She subsequently pursued graduate studies in Public Relations at both Johns Hopkins and the University of Rochester. She met her future husband, Dr. Clay Phillips Jr., a surgical intern at Johns Hopkins. They married in 1955 and moved to Rochester, NY where Clay started his residency and Ruth served as Director for Public Relations at Blue Cross / Blue Shield. They moved to northern Maine in 1956 for a two-year tour of duty with the Air Force, then returned to Rochester to finish Clay’s residency, join a practice, and raise a family. In 1962, they sailed on the Queen Elizabeth and moved to a small community near Cardiff, Wales. While Clay completed a thoracic surgery fellowship, Ruth managed three young kids, and they took every opportunity to explore the British Isles. They returned to the US a year later on the SS France and settled into an early 19th century house on a creek with willow trees in Penfield, NY. It was a beautiful setting that became a decades long restoration project known as the “duck house” because it attracted a large flock of Mallards, perhaps due to the prodigious amounts of corn Ruth fed them during the winter months. After raising and launching three kids, Ruth and Clay retired in 1995 to a home overlooking Cape Cod Bay on Sesuit Neck in East Dennis.

Ruth had a life-long love of music, playing piano and singing in choirs and shows from an early age. She was also an avid gardener. She volunteered her time and energy for numerous causes including hospitals, the Penfield Board of Education, the Monroe County Selective Service Board, several upstate NY regional planning and historical boards, the Lutheran Church, and the Sesuit Harbor community. She loved her family and was always thrilled when her children and grandchildren visited her for beach vacations and lobster dinners. More than anything she loved God.

Ruth is preceded in death by her husband Dr. Clay Phillips Jr. (2000) and all elder siblings. She is survived by her children Clay III (Katherine) of Bloomfield Hills, MI, Brad of Rochester, NY, and Ann Waite (Mark) of Falmouth, ME, and six grandchildren: Dylan and Morgan Phillips and Geneva, Natalie, Amelia, and Katrina Waite.

Following a private memorial service, Ruth will be laid to rest next to her husband at the Quivet Neck Cemetery. There will be a celebration of life later in the spring or early summer.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to the Alzheimer’s Family Support Center, 2095 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631 or St. Peters Lutheran Church, 310 Route 137, Harwich, MA 02645. The family also thanks the staff at Home Instead, Maplewood at Brewster, and Cape Cod Hospital for their support and compassionate care over the past several years.

Memories can be left at www.doanebealamesdennis.com