BLUE HILL – Anna Louise Yaruta, formerly of Owings Mills, Md., died peacefully in her sleep Sunday, Oct. 16, 2005, with her family by her side, at a Bangor hospital. Louise was born in Wilmington, Del. May 31, 1917, the daughter of Mary Evelyn Spencer and Oliver Clayton Truitt. She spent most of her youth on her family’s dairy farm, MoneyMake Farm, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. As a young horsewoman, she loved riding, herding the cows, always with a book to read as she rode. Louise and her sisters, Marian and Nevitte sang on local radio shows as the Truitt Sisters. Upon graduation from high school, she was awarded a full scholarship to the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, where she studied commercial art. Her particular love was detailed pen and ink drawings, a lifelong skill she shared by making cards for all occasions up until four days before her death. Because she graduated from college during the war years and jobs for artists were scarce, Louise went to work for the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, first as a keypunch operator and later as manager of her department. It was there she met her future husband, Simeon Joseph Yaruta. After leaving BG&E, she worked as a keypunch manager at the Maryland Casualty Insurance Company. From 1952-1960, Louise was a stay-at-home mother, enriching the life of her only child, Susan, and inspiring her to read, write, draw and enjoy the wonder of being on a 63-acre farm in the Caves Valley area of Maryland. Every year from 1950-1998, when she moved to Maine, Louise canned fruits and vegetables, made pickle relish and fantastic dill pickles in brine. One summer she even cleaned, cooked and canned enough wild snapping turtle soup to feed many families. She was a seamstress, sewing drapes, slipcovers and prom and wedding gowns for the family, all by hand. Louise patiently prepared fish and game that her sportsman husband brought home, even if it were late at night. And she fed orphan puppies and wild animals rescued from the wild with eyedroppers and baby bottles. Louise was a caring, nurturing and loving grandmother to Maura Brooke, Katherine Louisa, Laura Marie and David Byron, and great-granddaughter, Zoila Maria. She will be greatly missed by all who enjoyed her wry sense of humor, her hearty laugh, her ever-listening ear and her calm, gentle presence. During her last seven years, Louise loved her home in Blue Hill Falls, the joy of kind neighbors, the visits of wild turkeys, deer, dove, chickadees, hummingbirds, friends and grandchildren. She was an active member of First Congregational Church of Blue Hill and the P.A.L.S. senior group. Louise was predeceased by her parents, husband and siblings, Louis Byron Truitt, Oliver Clayton Truitt and Mary Nevitte Truitt. She is survived by her daughter, Susan Louise Yaruta-Young; son-in-law, Luther Young; four grandchildren and one great-grandchild; her siblings, Marian Leona Truitt and Donald Spencer Truitt; and dear nephews, nieces and cousins. A celebration of Louise’s life will be held 5:30 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 19, at the First Congregational Church, Blue Hill with table fellowship to follow. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to the Pine Tree United Methodist Church ministries, especially the Penobscot Methodist Church, P. O. Box 1727, Bucksport, ME 04416 or the scholarship fund for Sara and Frank Griffith, Bar Harbor Bank and Trust, P.O. Box 269, Ellsworth, ME 04605. Arrangements by Jordan-Fernald, 141 South St. Blue Hill.
ANNA LOUISE YARUTA
