Ruth (Slade) Smith

Funeral services celebrating the life of Ruth Tucker (Slade) Smith,86, of Muncie, Indiana will be held Sunday, February 21, 2021 at Parson Mortuary and Cremation Center, 800 West Adams Street, Muncie, Indiana at 3:00 pm. Officiating will be Bro. Denny Helton. Cremation will follow after the service.

Family will receive friends for visitation Sunday, February 21, 2021 from 1:00 pm until service time at the funeral home.

Ruth was born August 1934 in Fall River, MA and graduated with a B.A. in zoology from Mount Holyoke College and received her certificate in physical therapy from Columbia University.  She practiced physical therapy for many years, and often used her skills to help friends after her retirement. Ruth enjoyed singing, and she loved listening to and singing many kinds of music.  She was a longtime devoted member of Masterworks Chorale, and loved participating in group practices, concerts, and volunteering for their Valentine’s Day benefit.  She also sang in several other singing groups. She delighted in quickly identifying classical music pieces on Indiana Public Radio to win concert and opera tickets.  She was an avid gardener, and she loved to plant flowers and watch them grow into something spectacular, and was very dedicated to taking care of them.  She recently planted even more daffodil bulbs to let them join her hundreds of other tulip and daffodil bulbs, to anticipate and enjoy seeing the burst of life and beauty come springtime. She was a very independent, self-reliant woman and lived her life independently until her passing. She loved hiking and biking in her younger years, especially with the American Youth Hostile, and she climbed Mt. Hood as a youngster.  In her later years, she loved taking Amtrak train trips with her family to the western United States, Florida, New Orleans, and New England, amongst other destinations. She also enjoyed RV’ing to Indiana parks with her daughter. She supported her family completely, with no reservations. She helped her grandson move to Philadelphia for graduate work, and drove back to Muncie solo at the age of 80. She thought nothing of traveling to the upper peninsula of Michigan in wintertime to watch her grandson compete in Nordic skiing. She also stood in line for hours during one holiday season to obtain gaming consoles for her young grandsons. She loved her near-daily chat visits with her adopted grandson. She also supported and thought frequently about helping those in need, with a special place in her heart for supporting the Muncie Mission. She was also a longtime member of the Muncie Camera Club and National Public Radio (NPR). She loved her children and adopted family and she lived to see the birth of her first great-grandchild, who was born on her birthday.  She enjoyed and delighted in taking care of her friends and being there when they needed her.    

She is preceded in death by her husband of 52 years Robert Smith, father, George Slade, mother, Frances (Smith) Slade Graves.

Those left to cherish her memories include one son, Paul Smith (Teresa),three daughters, Karen Smith, Gail Boardman, Carol Smith, one sister, Celia Noble, three grandchildren, Samuel Boardman, Michael Quiroz-Smith (Milina), Steven Smith (Jennifer), one great-granddaughter, Maya Quiroz-Smith, adopted grandson Keith Johnson (Jaime) and the entire Johnson family, best friend and Scrabble partner Linda Wilson along with numerous nieces, nephews, and other relatives and friends.

Memorials may be made to Masterworks Chorale, Muncie Mission and National Public Radio in honor of Ruth Smith.

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