HARTLAND – Ruth Powers, passed peacefully Aug. 11, 2011. She was born Dec. 1, 1929, in Harmony, a daughter of Elmer and Ethel (Webster) Fox.
She attended Harmony schools and was a graduate of Hartland Academy, Class of 1948. She married her love and soul mate Harlow Powers, Dec. 11, 1948, at Grace Linn United Methodist Church, Hartland. They remained sweethearts for the next 60 years. He passed before her Feb. 2, 2008, and is surely there to greet her for another dance. Ruth and Harlow spent most of their married life in St. Albans and enjoyed summer months at their cottage on her beloved Big Indian Lake. After retiring they moved to a year round home on Great Moose Lake. Ruth loved being near the water and found great peace in the sights and sounds of it. She was very active all of her life, working at Scott Webb Memorial Hospital, and later spent more than 30 years as an administrative assistant and teacher’s aide for St. Albans Elementary School, watching more than generations of children pass through. She was also an active member of the Chatterbox Club, the Outlook Club and Order of the Eastern Star. She was a lifetime member of Grace Linn United Methodist Church. Ruth was very involved with Rural Letter Carriers Auxiliary and was elected its national president. She traveled extensively throughout the U.S. speaking to promote fundraising for juvenile diabetes, a cause near and dear to her heart. She was a much-respected member of her community, as well as an area soloist for weddings, church and other special occasions. She held many friends close to her heart and was always the giver to her family, friends and community. She leaves her grandchildren and great-grandchildren with many memories and her example will live on in each of them.
She was predeceased by her husband; her brother, Webster Fox; brothers-in-law, Clifford Merrill, Frank Jordan, Dr. Paul Briggs and Philip Gray; and sisters-in-law, Mary and Anna Fox. Ruth is survived by her children, Kathy and husband, Harvey Nichols, and Randy and wife, Kaye Powers; grandchildren, Matthew Powers, Travis, Shannon, Traci and Staci Nichols; great-grandchildren, Elizabeth, Brooke, Erin, Lexus, Zachary, Cody, Colin and Jonathan; her brother, Richard Fox; sisters, Ida Briggs, Virginia and Lee Peterson, Marjorie Jordan and Evangeline Gray; nieces, Candy Cooper, Sherry Herbst, Caroline Martin, Judy Chase, Joyce Kennett, Karen Parke, Jean Blake, Dawn Cox, Colleen Seremet, Coral Showalter and Karen Grey; and nephews, Alan, Tom, Kenny, Webster and James Fox, Frank Jordan, the Rev. Paul Briggs, Dale Peterson and Edward Parke.
Friends may call 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at Crosby & Neal, 117 Main St., Newport. Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, at Grace Linn United Methodist Church, Hartland, with the Rev. Paul Briggs and Pastor James Boughman officiating. A committal service will be held 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12, at Maloon Cemetery, St. Albans. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Ruth Powers Memorial Fund to benefit St. Albans Elementary School Library, care of the Superintendent’s Office, RSU 19, P.O. Box 40, Newport, ME 04953 or Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, P.O. Box 426, Westbrook, ME 04098. Those who wish may leave written condolences at
www.CrosbyNeal.com.