Ruth Lewis Varrone

Ruth Varrone was born in “Down East” North Carolina on Harkers Island, near Cape Lookout and its iconic diamond-patterned lighthouse. Her father, Richard Lewis, was the captain of a dredging ship and her mother, Bertha Thomas Willis, a homemaker. Ruth was the youngest of seven sisters—after Lillian, Marguerite, Helen, Bertha Gray, Louise, and Rosalie—and had one younger brother, Richard.

During her childhood, Harkers Island was accessible by boat only. When Ruth was young, her mother was seriously injured in an automobile accident and died the following year when Ruth was only 8 years old. She was cared for by her elder sisters until her late teens. As a young adult, she worked as a seamstress in a shirt factory in Morehead City, NC.

In 1942, she met her future husband Raymond Varrone, of Staten Island, NY, who was stationed at nearby Fort Macon during his service in the U.S. Army. They married on Oct. 17, 1943. Ray, a clarinet and saxophone player, served stateside during World War II as a member of the 241st Army Ground Forces Band together with his older brother, Frank. During the war years, Ruth accompanied Ray and Frank to posts in Texas, Arkansas, and California.

After the war, Ruth and Ray lived first in Staten Island and then moved to North Carolina where Ray held various teaching positions. Their first daughter, Rae Ann, was born in Jacksonville, NC, in 1953. The family then moved to Arlington, VA, where their second daughter, Jerrie Sue, was born in 1957, and Ray began a long career as civil servant with the U.S. government.

A homemaker like most women of her generation, once Ruth's children were of school age, she took a part-time job as a cashier at a nearby bowling alley. She herself became quite an accomplished bowler, playing in a women’s travel league for many years. Ruth later worked as an accountant for several companies, most recently for a defense contractor in the Arlington neighborhood now known as Pentagon City.

Ruth retired in the early 1980s. She enjoyed cooking, baking, needlework, crocheting, and gardening, among other leisure pursuits. She and Ray dearly loved their buff cocker spaniel, Sunny. For a number of years in her retirement, Ruth was a part-time caretaker for an elderly woman in Falls Church, VA.

Ray passed away in 1993 following a long battle with heart disease, during which time Ruth cared for him lovingly. She moved into a new, single-story home in North Arlington the following year, in part to be in closer proximity to Rae Ann and Jerrie and also to ease the strain of arthritis in her knees (both of which would later be surgically replaced).

Rae Ann passed away of cancer in 2007. Rae Ann is survived by her daughter, Caitlin Ehrler of Richmond, VA, and her husband Steven Ehrler of Crofton, MD, who has since remarried.

Like her own mother many years before, Ruth was involved in a near-fatal automobile accident, in 2008. She recovered following an extended hospitalization and rehabilitation and lived happily, contentedly, and independently for the next few years. Prior to the auto accident, Ruth was diagnosed with carcinoid cancer, a slow-growing and relatively non-aggressive form of the disease. It would ultimately be a contributing factor in the cause of her death.

Ruth passed away on Oct. 20, 2012, at age 88. Until her very last hours, she continued to live in her own home, just as she had wished. In her final months she was fortunate to be cared for by several competent and caring aides, most notably her beloved Jamie and Amy. She was also very fortunate to be attended to by her doctor of many years, Dr. Patrick Correnty, who is one of the rare doctors who still sees patients in their homes.

Ruth is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Jerrie Varrone Mirga and Tomas Mirga, of Arlington, VA; by her granddaughter Caitlin Ehrler of Richmond, VA; and by her brother Richard A. Lewis of Harkers Island, NC. She also had many nieces and nephews that were very dear to her.

Ruth’s family requests that donations in her name be made to the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center (www.coresound.com), P.O. Box 556, Harkers Island, NC, 28531; telephone (252) 728-1500; email [email protected]. The center is dedicated to preserving the folk art and occupational traditions of Harkers Island and all of Down East North Carolina.