Ruth Ellen Matson McMahon of Montgomery died peacefully on February 28, 2022, two days shy of what would have been her 90th birthday.
The daughter of Neal and Esther (Wirtanen) Matson of Athens, New York, she was predeceased by her parents, her husband William McMahon, her brother Neal Matson, and her son Michael McMahon. She is survived by her sister Marjorie (Matson Borfitz Placek) Roche, her sister-in-law Melanie (McMahon) Shuster, brother-in-law Richard McMahon, Maureen (McMahon) and Don Black, Viola (Draiss McMahon) Mlodynia, Alex (Fabian) and Michael McMahon, Heather (McMahon) and Jack Griffin, William Black, four great grandchildren and an assortment of cousins, nieces and nephews.
Ruth received her Bachelors of Arts in Religion from Hartwick College and her Masters of Arts Degree in Library Science from SUNY Albany. She worked at Thrall Library in Middletown, until Berea Elementary School opened. She was the librarian there until her retirement, after which she worked as the Children’s Librarian at the Cornwall Library. She returned to her love of story times for preschoolers and did those at Cornwall and later as a volunteer at Josephine Louise Library in Walden for many years.
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Walden played a large part in her life. Ruth was a founding member of the church. She volunteered at the Food Pantry, an outreach of Trinity. As part of Trinity’s Crisis Pregnancy outreach, Ruth opened her home to women, providing room, board, and transportation throughout their pregnancies. In retirement Ruth felt that senior citizens needed more activities and organized a weekly afternoon at Trinity called Fun Fridays, where people would snack, visit and play card and board games together.
Walden Woman’s Club named her Volunteer of the Year for her service to others, such as driving meals on wheels and providing transportation for shut-ins.
Ruth loved to travel. She made annual trips when working as the librarian at Berea Elementary School, and shared pictures and stories with all of the classes. In retirement she went on cruises and on annual Elder Hostel trips, often involving the arts. A notable one was to work with Habitat For Humanity in Plains, Georgia, then attended Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school class later that week.
There will be a celebration of life at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Route 208, Walden, Saturday, May 28, 2022 at 11am.
Arrangements were made by Millspaugh Funeral Directors.