Ruth Anne-Hall Smithers

Ruth Ann Hall Smithers age 93, passed away peacefully on September 28, 2022 with her family by her side. Ruth had been a resident of Essex Meadows in Essex Connecticut. Ruth was born November 17, 1928 in Phoenix AZ to parents Anne and Frank Hall and was raised in Orange Texas. She graduated from Texas Woman's University in Denton Texas in 1949 and later from Manhattanville College with a degree in learning disabilities in 1977. Ruth worked as an educational consultant for 15 years. She was a parishioner of St Aloysius Church in New Canaan and St Agnes Catholic Church in Niantic, CT.

Ruth was a lifelong resident of New Canaan Connecticut where she and her then husband built a modernist house and raised their three children. She spent many happy years there creating a wonderful life for herself and her family, becoming an avid gardener, art collector and golfer. She ferried her children to every activity she could think of and endured many hours of listening to the music of the time. Horse With No Name perplexed her the most. Later in life, Ruth answered the call of public service by serving on the New Canaan Town Council and was a delegate to many democratic state conventions. Her appointment as a Justice of Peace was her icing on the cake.

She championed the arts by serving on the original Board of Weir Farm, helping to create the first national park in Connecticut. Her commitment to the East Side House Settlement in NYC was tireless and she was always on hand at their annual Winter Antiques Show.

Beginning in the 70s, they summered in Niantic, Connecticut, where they discovered a whole new crop of friends. Ruth especially enjoyed playing croquet and spending relaxing days at the beach with her friends and family. It was a special place for her to put aside the fast-paced life in New Canaan and enjoy her garden, put her feet up and heave a sigh of bliss.

Throughout it all, her children were by her side either at her home or in theirs. She also loved spending time with her grandsons whom she saw often in Guatemala and in Niantic.

She is survived by her three children Charles F Smithers III and his partner Erika Marshall of Naples, Florida; Claire Smithers Mellinger and her husband Larry Mellinger of Charlottesville, Virginia and Bonnie Smithers of Niantic Connecticut; her two grandsons, Nico Javier Falla and Oliver Francisco Falla, both of Nashville Tennessee and her sister in-law Mary Vey Smithers of Guatemala and Hot Springs, VA.

Funeral services will be held on November 11, 2022 beginning at 11:00 AM in Saint Agnes Catholic Church, 22 Haigh Ave, Niantic, CT 06357. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to The Florence Griswold Museum Art Museum, Old Lyme, CT.