Ruth Holich

RUTH HOLICH

Florence, MA - Ruth (Buczala) Holich passed away peacefully at Hospice of The Fisher Home on October 31, 2025. Born in Easthampton in May 1926 to Julia (Yurik) Buczala and John Buczala, Ruth was raised among many cousins on Park Hill and West Farms. She graduated from Easthampton High School in 1944 and Northampton Commercial College in 1946. She soon went to work at Smith College, beginning a career that would span departments and decades, and include a succession of family members, including her husband, daughters, and nieces.

In 1948, Ruth married John Holich, a partnership that spanned 59 years, until his death in 2007. Together, they cleared property given by her grandfather, built a home, and built a close-knit group of friends. She was active in the Park Hill Homemakers Group, the Easthampton Grange, the West Farms Civic Association, 4-H groups (both as a youth and as a parent) and Northampton municipal committees.

Ruth was an extraordinarily gifted maker and talented artist. She sewed everything from clothing to horse show apparel and home decor to Barbie clothes - teaching her daughters along the way. She created beautiful pen and ink illustrations, watercolor paintings, quilts, knitted garments, embroidered pieces, and so many other crafts. She was a talented baker, tended beautiful gardens around her home and consumed mysteries voraciously. She was a lifelong learner, enjoying classes and workshops, and at 89, transitioned from a desktop PC to Macbook! Even while in hospice care, she took up pen and paper to learn the Zentangle artform from one of her daughters.

In the 1980s, Ruth and John traveled to their ancestral homeland, Slovakia, and continued to foster their cultural heritage for family members. They were most recently members of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Holyoke, before which they belonged to the Holy Trinity Slovak Lutheran Church in West Hatfield, which was founded by her grandfather and other area Slovaks.

Ruth was the heart of her family and modeled kindness, compassion, grace, and strength. She survived raising two daughters in the 70s, loved the families they created, and was a dear friend to so many.

Ruth is survived by her daughters, Ilse Barron and her husband Glenn of Florence, and Amy Moscaritolo and her husband David of Greenfield; her grandsons Ian and Nathan Barron, both of Florence; step-grandchildren Kelly Gilbert, Bryan Dunn, Nicholas Moscaritolo and Rose Moscaritolo; her niece Janie Fisher; nephew Martin Holich Jr, nieces Sharyn Holich and Lynda Holich; grand-nephew Douglas Fisher, and many cousins. She is predeceased by her husband, John; Amy's first husband, Arthur Dunn; her sister, Betty Swiercz; her nieces Nancy Long and Doreen Long; and her grand-nephew, Daniel Long.

The family expresses their profound gratitude to the kind and compassionate professionals of both Hospice of The Fisher Home and CDH Hospice. Their amazing care during Ruth's final months made her journey one filled with love and respect.

The family will receive guests at the Czelusniak Funeral Home, North Street, Northampton, on Monday, November 10 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Funeral service will be held at St. Peter's Lutheran Church on Jarvis Avenue, Holyoke, on Tuesday, November 11, 11:00 am. Interment at the Agawam Veterans Cemetery will be at the convenience of the family.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Ruth's honor may be directed to Hospice of The Fisher Home, 1165 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002.

Please go to Czelusniakfuneralhome.com for online condolences and tribute book.