RUTH BOWERS – Obituary
Ruth Bowers passed away on 22 January 2020. Born on 04 August 1927 as the only child of George and Martha Hummel (née Schendeman), she was raised by her mother. Martha, whom her grandchildren came to call “Memie,” supported the two of them through service as a domestic worker in and around Philadelphia. Ruth regretted that she had no middle name, so she gave herself one (“Anne”). She regretted that she had no sibling, but enjoyed spending time during her youth with cousins Henry and Bob Ormsby and Raymond Barker. Later, in the 1960s, she and family friend Peggy Hughes mutually “adopted” each other as the sister each never had. This friendship flourished for more than half a century, culminating in Peg’s care for Ruth for the past four-and-one-half years in Peg’s apartment. Their sisterhood was cherished by both. In 1946 Ruth met Russ Bowers, recently released from military service, at Delwood Skating Rink. That “meeting” included her asking him to skate with her during “Ladies’ Choice.” Nine weeks later, on 30 August 1946, they married. In 1951 the family moved into the Pitman home Russ was building. In time five children would be born into the family—Nancy Lee (Achilles, married to Brett Sherwood), Russell Henry Jr. (married to Glenna Wiley), Mulford Howard (married to Elaine Heater), Faye Irene (Airey, married to Don), and Daniel Paul (married to Tracy Pierce). Eighteen grandchildren (seventeen surviving) followed, and a growing count of great-grandchildren. Ruth enjoyed and was known for, among other things, her kitchen skills in both meal preparation and food preservation. She was committed to two successive Bible study groups, one on Monday nights under Steve Bonino at the Bowers home, and the second a group of women called the Followers. She faithfully taught the two and three-year-old children at First Baptist Church of Woodbury. Her husband of sixty-eight years predeceased her on 27 May 2015, and not long afterward Ruth moved in with Peg Hughes. Ruth and Russ’ church home for the last years of their lives was Joy Community Fellowship in Pitman. They valued that church family and its ministries to them. We trust that Ruth is now experiencing a foretaste of the promise that “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
Relatives and friends are invited to her funeral service on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, at 11:00 AM at the Joy Community Fellowship, 309 Florence Avenue, Pitman, NJ 08071 where friends may call from 10:00 AM until service time. Interment Cedar Green Cemetery, Clayton. Services under the direction of the BARCLAY FUNERAL HOME. Sign the guest book and send condolences at BarclayFuneralHome.n