Ruth Reddy Ruth Reddy Ruth Reddy Ruth Reddy
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Obituary for Ruth May Reddy

Ruth May  Reddy
Reddy, Ruth M. (nee Jarvis) of Kings Park on June 26, 2018 in her 91st year. Beloved wife of Edward of 68 years. Cherished mother of Edward Jr. (Linda), Susan Schroeder (Nick), Ellen Paskoff (Alan), William (Florence), Marianne Jones (David), and Robert (Meg); loving grandmother and great-grandmother. Reposing Wednesday 2-4 pm & 7-9 pm at Clayton Funeral Home, Inc. 25 Meadow Rd., Kings Park. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered Thursday 9:30am at St. Joseph's R.C. Church, Kings Park. Interment to follow at Calverton National Cemetery.

Life Story for Ruth May Reddy

Ruth M. Jarvis was born on April 8, 1927 in Huntington, New York to parents Cora May Whaley and Oliver Carll Jarvis. As a child growing up, Ruth enjoyed writing poetry and spending time with her younger sister, Marge. After graduating from Huntington High School in 1945, Ruth attended the Southampton School of Nursing. By the year of 1948, Ruth had finished schooling and had found work as a pediatric nurse at Huntington Hospital.

In 1948 when Ruth was 21 years old, she and her friend Claire were asked by a colleague’s brother, Pat, and his friend, Eddie to attend a softball dinner as their dates. Prior to their date, Pat and Eddie had decided that Pat would be paired with Ruth and Eddie would be paired with Claire. Yet when the men picked up their dates, Ruth slid into the car next to Eddie and Claire sat next to Pat. The men were baffled. Little did they know, the women had already discussed whom they wanted to be paired with. While Eddie recounts being startled that he was sitting next to the wrong date, the two fell in love quickly. Two years later, on a chilly Christmas Eve under a lamp post by her house, Eddie proposed to Ruth with a ring.

Settling in Kings Park, New York , the two were eager to begin their lives together. They welcomed their first son, Edward Jr. a few years into their marriage. Shortly after came Susan and Ellen. William arrived next, with Marianne following close behind, and Robert completed the family. A loving and devoted mother, Ruth spent time at home raising the children, but returned to work to help support the family. Her jobs included working at the North Shore Medical Group, the Carillon Nursing Home, the Kings Park School District, and the Kings Park State Hospital. Ruth also helped Eddie run the Indian Head Deli, often enlisting the help of the children to peel potatoes for the deli salads. Life in the Reddy home was full of love, as Ruth and Eddie instilled their Christian values in their children. Together, Ruth and Eddie sent all six of their children to college.

The couple enjoyed traveling during their lifetime together, visiting Eddie’s brother, Charlie, in Hawaii, embarking on cruises with friends and family, wintering in Florida, and vacationing in Woodloch Pines in the Poconos twenty-three times. In their later years, the couple would rise early in the mornings to meet friends for walks on the boardwalk at Sunken Meadow. Ruth was a devoted member of book clubs, an avid reader, and was rarely seen without a pair of knitting needles in her hands.

The strength and love of Ruth is most evident through her role as the patriarch of the Reddy family. She reveled in her role as Grandmother, and doted on her sixteen grandchildren, doling out hugs and smiles, and wrapping them snugly in memories and hand-knitted afghans for their sixteenth birthdays. By the end of her long and beautiful life, she had left an impression on the hearts of dozens of family members and friends, including seven great-grandchildren and more on the way. Eddie’s remark on the love of his life sums up how many who had the privilege to meet Ruth in their life felt: “I don’t know who was luckier, she or me.”

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