Ruth F. Males

Ruth F. Males, 90, passed away on Sunday, December 22, 2013, surrounded by her family at home in Livingston, NJ. The memorial service celebrating her life will be offered at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 94 E. Mt. Pleasant Ave., Livingston, on Saturday January 4, 2014 at 11 AM.

Born in Clinton, South Carolina, Ruth (nee Fant) spent most of her childhood in East Orange, New Jersey where her stepfather was Dean of Students at Upsala College. It was here in fifth grade that she met her future husband Dayton Males. After graduating from Upsala, where she was homecoming queen, they married. They lived in East Orange, Livingston and West Orange and had three children, Dick, Cindy and Jeff.

In 1958, Dayton threw down the snow shovel and said, “Let’s move.” And they did. They packed up household, kids and their German Shepherd Duchess and flew to St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. There Dayton worked as a civil engineer and Ruth taught school. Later when Dayton took a job managing resorts, the family relocated first to The Buccaneer Hotel and later St. Croix-by-the-Sea. In 1960, they headed back north, settling once again in Livingston. While Dayton continued his civil engineering career, Ruth began teaching in the Glen Ridge public schools. In 1976, after they’d both retired, they went south again, this time to Somers Point, NJ.

In South Jersey Ruth jumped into community service, serving as a board member of the Somers Point Library and volunteering as an aide in the school system. She was also an active member of the Grace Lutheran Church in Somers Point, singing in the choir and participating in the Women’s Group.

Several years after she was widowed, Ruth returned to Livingston to live with daughter Cindy and her husband Bill. Along with visiting friends, reading, working on crossword puzzles, writing letters, and knitting sweaters for friends and family, she volunteered in the thrift shop at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and sang in the choir. She loved watching Downton Abbey and any movie Judy Dench starred in. And she was an eagle-eyed spotter of typos in newspapers and magazines.

She is survived by her children: Dick and his wife Carolyn, Cynthia Brady and her husband William, and Jeffrey and his wife Linda. She is also survived by six grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Grace Lutheran Church (11 Dawes Ave., Somers Point, NJ 08244), St. Peter’s Episcopal Church (94 E. Mt. Pleasant Ave., Livingston, NJ 07039) or Atlantic Hospice (465 South St., 1st Floor, Morristown, NJ 07960) . Arrangements by the Quinn-Hopping Funeral Home of Livingston.