April 24, 1930 – June 4, 2025
Ruth E. (Smith) Schubarth, a resident of Reading since 1961, passed away on June 4 at the Sawtelle Family Hospice House in Reading. She was 95.
Ruth was born in Boston on April 24, 1930, the daughter of the late Albert M. and Ruth E. (Peoples) Smith.
She was a 1947 graduate of Medford High School and got her diploma from the Peter Bent Brigham School of Nursing in 1951. After starting her career in the emergency room at the Brigham, she worked as a nurse in the Panama Canal Zone, where her husband served in the U.S. Air Force. She then worked at the Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., while her husband attended the Rochester Institute of Technology. She returned to the Brigham for a short while after that before working at Middlesex East Visiting Nurse Association and later at Reading Memorial High School, retiring there in 1994 after 23 years as the school nurse.
Ruth was the beloved wife of the late Cromwell H.W. Schubarth, Sr. Devoted mother of Cromwell Schubarth, Jr., and his wife Nancy of San Jose, California, Karen Ricker of Lee, N.H., Alyssa Teves and her husband Stephen of Wrentham, and Nancy Anderson and her husband Everett of Reading. Cherished sister of George Smith and his wife Aleah, Richard Smith and his wife Karen and Stephen Smith and his wife Anita, and the late Albert Smith, Bruce Smith and Walter Smith. Ruth was also the loving grandmother of Meghan and her partner Chad McGartlin, Adam and his wife Christine Nichols Ricker, Christa Ricker and her partner Greg Fellows; Richard Teves, Ryan Teves and his wife Adrienne, Jillian Teves and her partner Dana Harvey, Kyle Teves and his wife Caroline; Casey Anderson and his wife Brittany, Troy Anderson and his fiancé Erika Metrano, Jason and Brady Anderson. Ruth was the great grandmother of Evan and Colin McGartlin; June and Hope Ricker; Julia, Nora, Madelyn, Emmett, Everly, Vivienne, Theodore and Charles Teves; and Madelyn Ciavarro.
Ruth loved to sing from an early age, taking voice lessons as a teen and later singing in the choir and soloing at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Reading. She was also an avid seamstress, making many outfits for herself and her daughters as well as making Christmas stockings for each new grandchild and great grandchild in the family. She was also active in Masonic organizations, including as Mother Advisor in Rainbow and Worthy Matron in Eastern Star.
Visiting hours will be held at the Douglass, Edgerley and Bessom Funeral Home 25 Sanborn St. (corner of Woburn St.), Reading on Wednesday, June 11, from 4-7pm. An Eastern Star Service will be held at 6:30pm. A funeral service celebrating Ruth’s life will be held at the Church of the Good Shepherd, 95 Woburn St. (corner of Chute St.), Reading on Thursday, June 12, at 10:30am. Burial will follow at Puritan Memorial Park in Peabody.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the Reading Scholarship Fund Inc., P.O. Box 492, Reading, MA 01867, in memory of Ruth Schubarth.
