Ruth Duell

LENOX -- Ruth Duell, 92, of Pine Hill at Kimball Farms died Sunday at home.

Born in Buffalo, N.Y., on Oct. 13, 1912, daughter of Roderick and Eleanor Hotchkiss Potter, she graduated from Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Conn., and attended Smith College. She lived in New York City for many years. She moved to Lenox in 1992.

Mrs. Duell was a writer and editor. She began her professional career as a reporter for the New York Daily Mirror and later wrote a society column for the New York Post. She produced material for the Navy during World War II, became editor of the Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine and then a founder of the magazine This Week and an editor at Basic Books publishing company. She also worked for the former publishing company of Duell, Sloan and Pearce, of which her late husband, Charles Halliwell Duell, was a partner.

She was active on the United Nations Hospitality Committee and served on the board of the William Allison White Institute in New York City. She also was involved in New York and Connecticut Democratic politics. She enjoyed reading, needlework and gardening.

In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by her first husband, Frederick B. Adams Jr., and her second husband, Francis W. LaFarge.

She leaves three daughters, Gillian Adams of Williamstown, Anne B. Adams of Hartland, Vt., and Ruth Duell Clark of Windsor, Conn.; a son, Roderick Potter Duell of Summerville, S.C.; a stepson, Charles H.P. Duell of Charleston, S.C.; a stepdaughter, Josephine Scott Duell of Charleston; a brother, Roderick Potter of Summerville, S.C.; eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

She was predeceased by a son, Jonathan T. LaFarge, and a stepdaughter, Anne Duell Morgan.

FUNERAL NOTICE -- Ruth Potter Adams LaFarge Duell died Jan. 16, 2005. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to HospiceCare in the Berkshires, 369 South St., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Mrs. Duell also was predeceased by a brother, Dr. William Hotchkiss Potter; a sister, Mary Potter Carter, and a half-sister, Esther Potter Thomas. She leaves numerous nieces and nephews.