Ruth M. Johnson passed away on October 17,2021 at the Mayflower Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Yarmouth, MA. Ruth was born nearly 100 years ago in Narpes, Finland on April 20, 1922. She was the daughter of Karl and Anna Lundin and lived most of her youth in Kasko, a small town on the west coast of Finland.
Ruth came to the United States in 1940 and worked as a maid in New York City and Oyster Bay, NY. She moved to Worcester, MA in 1941, where she soon met her future husband, Hilding Johnson, just months before he was deployed by the Army to the Asiatic Pacific Theater. Upon Hilding’s return after nearly four years away, he asked Ruth to marry him and in June 1946, they began their 55 years of marriage. Ruth and Hilding first lived in Worcester and later in Auburn, MA where they raised their two children. In the 1970’s, they moved to East Dennis where they and their children and other relatives had spent many vacation weeks camping or renting near the bay in Brewster.
There are so many wonderful things to remember and cherish about Ruth. She was a life-long lover of fishing. As a young girl she fished with her Dad in Finland and then for decades she fished with family and friends in reservoirs, lakes, lily pad ponds, and Cape Cod bay. She inspired her children and grandchildren to fish: fishing was not just for the hunt, but an opportunity to be embraced by the beauty and tranquility of nature. Some of her fondest memories were late afternoon and near dusk car rides to one of the many nearby Cape Cod lakes where her husband kept the high beams on so Ruth could stay beyond sunset and pull in “just one more fish”.
Ruth also had many talents. She was an avid seamstress and knitter; a gardener who once force-fed dahlias in May so they would be blooming for her daughter’s wedding in July; and an artist who paid strong attention to memories and details. It is not surprising that many of her paintings included remembered scenes from Finland, lighthouses, sunsets and flowers.
Ruth and her husband, who died in 2001, were both active members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Worcester and later, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Harwich. Over the years, Ruth was well known for her meticulous embroidery of altar linens and prolific knitting of prayer shawls for individuals who were elderly or recovering from illness.
Ruth was a special woman and a caring and unselfish mother, wife and friend. She leaves behind her son David Johnson and his wife, Laura, and her granddaughters, Kristen Johnson and Ali Coates, and her husband, Colin Coates. Ruth also leaves behind her beloved first great grandchild, Hannah Coates. She leaves behind her daughter Donna Johnson and her husband, Lance Wisniewski and grandson, Erik Wisniewski.
She leaves behind her sister, Maja Blodgett of Worcester. She also leaves behind her nephew, James Blodgett and his wife Sarah and family and her niece Janet Johnson and her husband David Johnson and family.
A celebration of Ruth’s life will be planned for later this Fall at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Harwich.
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