Obituary of Ruth Agnes Keddy

Ruth Agnes Keddy (Perrier)  passed away November 7, 2018 at the Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville, Nova Scotia at the age of 87.  Ruth was born in Wolfville on November 23, 1930 as the second child of George and Myrtle (Rooney) Perrier of New Minas.

She is predeceased by her parents, sister Ann Perrier and son David Keddy.

Ruth is survived by and will be greatly missed by her husband of 64 years, Lawrence “Larry” Keddy of New Minas; their children Karen (former spouse Jesse Voss) of Muncie, Indiana; Stephen (Gaye O’Bertos) of Ottawa; and Linda (Bertram Meissner) of Kentville; as well as grandchildren in Ontario which include Matthew and Nicole Cochrane, Christopher Keddy, and Calvin and Matthew Meissner.  Additional surviving member of Ruth’s family include step grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

Before marrying in 1954, Ruth proudly represented New Minas as a princess in the Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival in 1950, and had worked for The Advertiser, R.D. Chisholm’s Stationary, and the Maritime Telephone Company in Kentville. With a love of sports and competition, young Ruth was an excellent dancer, played ice hockey on a girls’ team for the Maritime Telephone company in Kentville and then later, bowling became a favorite activity for much of Ruth’s life.  Once married, the newlyweds moved to Fredericton where Larry had been accepted into the civil engineering program at the University of New Brunswick.  During their time in New Brunswick, Ruth worked full time at the New Brunswick Telephone company, enabling Larry to earn his second degree after which they moved to Windsor, Ontario where their four children were born. In Windsor, both were very active in the Maritime Club and then they moved to Toronto briefly. They returned to Nova Scotia in the early 1970’s where Ruth was a homemaker until the children were older and she could resume work outside the home at Sears in the customer service department.

Ruth was always interested in following current trends in fashion and interior decorating.  Ruth participated in many courses, workshops and retreats over the years related to her creative interests. She was a woman of many talents and she enjoyed many different arts and crafts such as Swedish weaving, felting, tole painting, embroidery, ceramics, paper tole, and oil painting. Ruth also enjoyed gardening and created beautiful flower gardens every year both at home and at the family cottage in Scotts Bay. Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90’s, Ruth was an active member of the Photographic Guild of Nova Scotia, often winning awards for her work. However, her greatest artistic joy was found in rug hooking which she enjoyed for over 20 years as a member of The Loft rug hooking group.  Ruth had a great interest in current events, enjoyed playing games and doing puzzles. Ruth was an avid follower of baseball and hockey as well as figure skating. Ruth loved animals and for most of her life, she had a dog or cat.

Ruth will always be remembered for her great sense of humour.  She will be deeply missed and remembered by family and friends for being kind, honest, loving, and a person who made friends easily. Ruth loved spending time with her family and always enjoyed family get-togethers.

The family would like to thank the V.O.N., the doctors and nurses at the Valley Regional Hospital in Medical B unit for the compassionate nursing care that Ruth received, as well as Dr. David Grant who was Ruth’s family doctor for years.

Cremation has taken place and a Celebration of Life memorial will be held at a later date in Nova Scotia. Please contact Karen Keddy (drkeddy@gmail.com) or Linda Keddy (keddylinda@gmail.com) for more details. Memorial donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia (www.heartandstroke.ns.ca) or a charity of your choice. Arrangements have been entrusted to Serenity Funeral Home, 34 Coldbrook Village Park Dr., Coldbrook, NS, B4P 1B9 (902-679-2822).