RUTH HARDY SCHEIDECKER

RUTH HARDY SCHEIDECKER SHELBURNE - Ruth Hardy Scheidecker passed away in Wake Robin of Shelburne on Feb. 4, 2011. Born Aug. 17, 1920, she was the eldest daughter of Helen (Knowles) Hardy and Roy Edward Hardy in Andover, Mass. She graduated Middlebury College, Class of 1941, and then worked for the U.S. Military in Brazil during WWII. It was there that she met Charles Instone Scheidecker, whom she married in 1946. That union produced a lifetime of love, friendship, travel all over the world, and many family gatherings. Aunt Ruth/Mother/ Gramma Ruth/G-Ma/Rudy was an incredible gourmet cook and seamstress, generous and caring, gracious, funny and fun- loving with a beautiful smile and a refined and elegant stature. She loved art, clothes, shoes, skiing, tennis, Middlebury College, crossword puzzles, and painting - but most of all, she adored her family. She and Charles raised their two daughters in Mountainside, N.J. There she was active in the First Congregational Church of Westfield, the YMCA, AAUW, and many activities with her daughters. Charles's work at Johnson & Johnson took them to nearly every continent and produced warm friendships and life-long friends with J&J employees. Ruth often used her culinary skills to entertain visiting dignitaries at their home in Mountainside. Summers were spent with her extended family in Cape Cod sailing, swimming and playing tennis. After the death of her husband, Ruth relocated to Wake Robin in 1997. She was active in many Wake Robin activities, including her cherished painting classes and Monday Monet dinners. She was a member of the College Street Congregational Church of Burlington. She had fond memories of her time at Middlebury College, where she was active in Delta Delta Delta Sorority, the Middlebury College Mountain Club, hiking the Long Trail and skiing at Bread Loaf, and remained close with many dear college friends her entire life. Her family remains indebted to the college for the required research by home economics majors for the perfect pie crust. Her legacy lives on in her family: daughters and sonsin-law, Fredrica and Bill Williams of Huntington, N.Y. and Helen and Ted Riehle of South Burlington; grandchildren, Ethan and Meghan Packard, Chris and Elizabeth Packard, Augusta and Adam Comey, Marlie and Tom Meringer, Emily Riehle and Sarah Riehle; and great-grandchildren, Charles and Ella Packard, Maddox and Hayden Comey and Stephen Hawkes Packard. She is also survived by her sisters and their husbands, Ginny and Tom Moser of Cornwall and Judy and Norman Olson of West Dennis, Mass.; sister-in-law, Phyllis Toohey of New York City; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. The family would like to extend their appreciation and grateful thanks to the Wake Robin Staff for their tender love and caring during the final weeks of her life. Her body was donated to the UVM College of Medicine. The family will gather in Vermont this summer for a celebration of her wonderful life. Contributions in her memory may be made to the College Street Congregational Church, 265 College Street, Burlington, VT 05401 in support of their recent major renovations to the sanctuary, classrooms and YMCA day care space.