SUNSET, DEER ISLE – Ruth E. (Small) Harris, 81, died Sept. 30, 2005, in Deer Isle, from a rare cancer. She was born Sept. 9, 1924, in Winchendon, Mass., to Melville L. Small, a native of Sunset, Deer Isle, and Isabella (Morrison) Small, a native of Lisbon. She grew up in Framingham, Mass., spent her summers on her grandmother Small’s Crockett’s Cove farm, and graduated from Bates College in 1946. She met her husband Bob there and they were married for 59 happy years. In Morristown, N.J., she became an Elder of the Presbyterian Church, and served many roles in the church and the community in her 40 years there. After spending a lifetime of summers in Sunset, she and her husband Bob retired year round to Sunset in 1990, where she became, again, one of the many pillars that hold up a community like ours. She was Moderator and Clerk of the Sunset Congregational Church, President of the Ladies Aid of Sunset, President of the Hillside Cemetery, and secretary for several other organizations. She was involved in collecting Sunset history, and she transcribed the diary of Naomi (Warren) Eaton 1897-1906, secretary of the Martha Washington Benevolent Society. She is survived by her husband, Robert L. Harris of Sunset; one daughter, Susan E. Seater and her husband, John, of Raleigh, N.C.; one son, Roger L. Harris and his wife, Kathryn, of Boulder Colo.; and three grandchildren, Elizabeth Seater Wood and her husband, Keith Wood of Cambridge, Mass., Robert M. Seater and his friend, Jessica Auerbach of Malden, Mass., and William L. Harris of Boulder Colo. She is also survived by cousins Willard Stinson, Ann (Small) Stinson, Eliza (Small) Spencer, all of Deer Isle, Priscilla (Stinson) Woodward of Stonington, and Rose (Stinson) Ebsworth of Cambridge, England. A seventh generation descendant of Job and Thomas Small, brothers who settled Deer Isle in the 1760s, Ruth was related to many families on the island including Fifields and Knowltons. A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005, in the Sunset Congregational Church. In lieu of flowers, gifts in Ruth’s memory may be made to Sunset Congregational Church, P.O. Box 104, Sunset, ME 04683, or Island Food Pantry, PO Box 12, Deer Isle, ME 04627, or Island Medical Center, Stonington ME 04681, or Island Nursing Home, Deer Isle ME 04627. Arrangements are by Bragdon-Kelley-Campbell Funeral Home, Stonington.