Ruth Ford Blood

Ruth Anne Ford Blood, 83, of Skowhegan Maine, died peacefully at her home on January 3rd, in the care of her family and Beacon Hospice. Born to Nellie Maud Savage Ford and Richard Alvin Ford in Milo, Maine, on July 6, 1938, Ruth graduated from Milo High School as valedictorian in 1956 and from the University of Maine, Orono, in 1960, where she was a member of Phi Kappa Phi and several other scholastic honor societies.

Ruth enjoyed a long and illustrious teaching career at Skowhegan Area High School, where she taught English literature, reading skills, and college preparatory writing from 1960-1967 and from 1976-1993. Many of her students learned to share her love of the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird. She was also actively involved in curriculum development and taught in the MSAD #54 adult education program. In her retirement she tutored adult learners as part of Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties.

She married fellow teacher Maurice W. Blood on August 24, 1963, in Boyd Lake, Maine. They had two children, Kyle Timothy Blood and Jay Wentworth Blood. As a family, they enjoyed summers at their camp on Lake St. George in Liberty and trolled for salmon every spring. Maurice left her side only upon his passing in 1987.

Following her retirement from teaching, she spent countless hours and years researching genealogy, often compiling compendiums of vital statistics with social and contextual references for people all over the country. She became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Mayflower Society.

With her steadfast companion Gary Smith, a long-time colleague in the English Department, Ruth spent many days touring nearly every nook and cranny of the State of Maine in search of deeds, vital statistics, and the perfect fried clams; in 1992 they took a driving trip through Ireland.

For almost a decade, Ruth volunteered at the Skowhegan Free Public Library, teaching genealogy workshops, cataloguing local historical records, and establishing the Library’s genealogy room.

At the Skowhegan History House Museum and Research Center, Ruth served as a board member, establishing the Historic Home Registry Program, initiating the Student Internship Program, and editing the Museum’s newsletter.

It is fair to say that many of Ruth’s former students, now spread across the globe, will remember with utmost clarity how to diagram a sentence and how to develop a thesis statement.

Ruth loved gardening, knitting, sewing, and, more recently, cheering on the New England Patriots; she was also an avid reader.

Ruth was predeceased by her parents; husband; sister Marion Williams Moulton; brothers-in-law Llewellyn Moulton, Leroy Blood, and Stanley Blood; sisters-in-law Margaret Blood, Carol Chabot, Edna Blood, and Barbara Blood; nieces Mary Elizabeth Heath and K Hartsgrove; and nephew Dickie Moulton.

She is survived by her son Kyle Timothy Blood (Dean Perry) of Prince Edward Island, and her child Jay Wentworth Blood of Skowhegan; her brother-in-law Clayton Blood, Sr.; nieces and nephews Paul Moulton (Karen), Jennifer Garrett (Patrick), Babette White (Derwin), Clayton Blood, Jr. (Kim), Steven Blood (Lara), Elaine Knowlen (Scott), Susan Blood-Rodriguez (Hector); great-nieces and nephews Michael Heath (Misty), Amy Heath Robinson (Darren Bernier), Kerbon Heath (Scott Dickman), Joshua Hartsgrove (Heidi), Jillian Hartsgrove, Victoria Le, and Paul Moulton, Jr.

The family would like to thank the staff and volunteers at Beacon Hospice for their loving care for Ruth. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Ruth’s name to Hospice Volunteers of Somerset County, P.O. Box 658, Skowhegan, ME 04976.

A celebration of life will be announced at a later date. Arrangements are under the care and direction of Smart and Edwards Funeral Home, www.SmartandEdwardsFH.com