Ruth Shimony MONTGOMERY

MONTGOMERY, Ruth Shimony Ruth Shimony Montgomery, long-time Middletown resident and teacher, passed away Monday (November 16, 2009) ending her struggle with lung cancer and Parkinson's disease at age 77. She was the deeply loved wife of Christopher Trump Montgomery; mother of Jennifer Ruth Montgomery (Chicago, IL), Vivian Sarah Montgomery (Medford, MA); sister of Abner Shimony (New Haven, CT); and grandmother of Ezra Morrison (also of Medford, MA). Ruth Montgomery was an important figure both in the Middletown educational system and in Middletown civic life. For many years, she taught Latin and English in the Middletown public high schools and middle schools. She was responsible for revitalizing the Latin program at Wilson and Middletown High Schools, a program which has enabled students for decades to acquire an understanding of Latin not just as a "dead" language but as a vibrant, eloquent part of linguistics and history. In addition, she was a civic organizer with a large view of the community's potential. After the death of her friend, Elizabeth Swaim, she founded the Swaim Memorial String Program, now a thriving offshoot of the Community Foundation that gives children in the public schools access to training in classical string instruments. Prior to that, she also worked on the school board as the consummate "squeaky wheel," initiating important advancements in the public school system here in Middletown. Ruth S. Montgomery was born Rebecca Ruth Shimony on April 23rd, 1932, in Columbus, OH. She was raised in Memphis, TN, the daughter of the late Morris Shimony and Sarah Altman Shimony. Morris was an immigrant from what was, at the time, Palestine, now the state of Israel. His family was among the earliest Jews to return from Eastern Europe to the Holyland. He was a gifted scholar, teacher, and cantor, who was very active in the Orthodox Jewish community in Memphis, TN, where Ruth grew up. Ruth's mother, who had had emigrated from Poland, died when Ruth was three. Morris Shimony subsequently remarried Dora Farber Shimony, a Russian émigré whose family had come to Memphis from Ykaterinislav in the Ukraine. Dora became a beloved adopted mother to both Ruth and her brother, Abner. Therefore, Ruth grew up in a richly mixed, largely Jewish community in Memphis, receiving an education in the broad range of influences to which her international family introduced her. Ruth received her BA from Swarthmore College in PA in 1954. She then received her MA in English Literature from Harvard University. Through her exposure to these institutions as well as the environs of New York City, she became as much a cosmopolitan Northeasterner as a Southern girl, and by the time she married Christopher Montgomery in 1959, was an independent woman with a full-blown career as an English teacher. Ruth and Chris Montgomery's daughters, Jennifer and Vivian, were both born in New York City. Shortly thereafter, the family relocated permanently to Middletown, CT, where Chris Montgomery worked as a librarian at Wesleyan University until 1996. He was, and is, a dedicated and gifted composer who continued to write music throughout his career as a librarian, largely due to his wife Ruth's support. During the 45 years Ruth and Chris Montgomery have lived in Middletown, they became an integral part of the Wesleyan Community as well as the community at large. In addition to being a public school teacher, Ruth was a gifted writer and a Latinist. She wrote many brilliant short stories, as well as essays dealing with subjects ranging from Jane Austen to Catullus. Her friends and family found nourishment in her rich conversation, her lively analysis of any topic that was thrown her way, and her cutting humor. She was a force to be reckoned with, possessed of a beautiful mind, and the best listener one could ever hope to encounter in life. She will never be forgotten. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, December 4, at the Wesleyan University Memorial Chapel, 221 High Street, Middletown. There will be no calling hours and messages of condolence may be sent to the family at www.doolittlefuneralservice.com. The Doolittle Funeral Home, 14 Old Church Street, Middletown is handling the arrangements.