Ruth Hodge Thouin

Ruth Hodge Thouin (Hodge) of Tucson, Arizona passed away peacefully on April 8, 2023. She was born in Hyannis, Massachusetts on June 16, 1938 to Frederick M. and Persis Canfield Hodge. Ruth spent her childhood in Hyannis and summers at the family lake house in Unity, Maine. As the daughter of a high school principal, education was of the utmost importance to her family, a core value she passed on to future generations. Ruth was valedictorian at Barnstable High School in Hyannis in 1956, and graduated from Wellesley College in 1960 with a degree in Political Science. After college, Ruth worked for the National Security Agency at Fort Meade in Maryland as a cryptanalyst. Her career highlight was receiving the Meritorious Civilian Service Award. During this time, she was one of the few women working in the field and was the only female member of the award winning team.

Introduced by close friends at work, Ruth decoded the heart of her future and beloved husband of 42 years, David Ernest Thouin. They married on June 20, 1964, in an intimate ceremony in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. She and David raised their three sons on Claxton Place in Bowie, Maryland, later moving to Annapolis and Crofton, Maryland. The last 8 years of her life were spent in Tucson, Arizona living with family. Her devotion and love to those closest to her were undeniable. She worked tirelessly to provide the best possible upbringing for her family.

Ruth was an avid tennis player, playing competitively with a close group of friends throughout the mid-Atlantic and maintaining her USTA 4.0 ranking into her late 50s. She enjoyed spending summers with family in Unity, Maine and Grand Rapids, Michigan boating, waterskiing, reading, fishing, and enjoying the great outdoors. She had fond memories and spoke frequently about summers spent as a child with her parents and brother, Frederick M. Hodge Jr., in Unity, Maine.

Ruth wasn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves and get to work! She was skilled with most home improvement projects and worked with David one summer to plan, design, and build a three-room addition. Other projects included shingling a roof, building a deck, building a shed, wallpapering, and painting. She was an avid seamstress and made many of her outfits. Completing a job and doing it well gave her a great deal of satisfaction.

She will be missed deeply by her surviving three sons, their wives, and six grandchildren: Paul and Abigail Thouin (Eldersburg, Maryland), with sons Abraham (Mariah) of Broomfield, Colorado and John of Eldersburg, Maryland; James and Tanis Thouin, with sons, Parker and Ryder, all of Tucson, Arizona; and Mark and Audra Thouin, with daughter, Anna, and son, Matthew, all of Allen, Texas. She is also survived by two nieces and three nephews.

Ruth was an active member of Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Tucson, Arizona, where a funeral mass will be held in her honor on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at 10 AM. Her final resting place will be at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, forever beside her beloved, David.