Ruth Mae Hahn

     Ruth Mae Hahn, age 96, formerly of Wentlings Corners and Ashland Township, where she resided with her niece, passed away on Thursday, March 22, 2018 at The Caring Place in Franklin.

    Born July 30, 1921 on a farm near Fryburg, she was a daughter of the late Samuel Harry Hahn and Minnie Estella Wentling Hahn.

     She graduated from White Memorial School in Knox in 1939.

     Although she never married, Ruth was a treasured person, who was beloved by her family, her church and her community.  She spent her life being an aunt to, not just her family, but to her community.  Most of the children in Wentlings Corners knew her by the name, “Aunt Ruth”.

     In her early years, Ruth worked a few years for the Means Creamery in Wentlings Corners. However, for most of her adult life, she was a caregiver.  Whenever she did caregiving, she also added on various and sundry household responsibilities, including cooking, cleaning and laundry.  In later years, she did the same level of caregiving for elderly people. But children were the recipients of her caregiving for the bulk of her working years.

     Ruth was a lifelong member of the St. Paul’s United Church of Christ.  She worked tirelessly in serving the church as a teacher of the second grade Sunday School class, church librarian, a member of the Women’s Fellowship and Bible Study group and as a worker for numerous church dinners.

     She was an active member of the Wentlings Corners Community Club and for many years did all the scheduling of events at the hall and cleaning of the building. She also was a volunteer Girl Scout Leader and a leader of the 4-H Club that met at the hall.

    Ruth was a blessing to her family throughout the years, as she cared for many of the children. She was known for her expertise in cooking and baking, and made many wonderfully treasured foods, including rolls, bread and cinnamon rolls for Sunday dinners with the family, along with various treats such as, popcorn balls, potato chips, gingerbread cookies, cakes, cupcakes and many kind of pies, especially apple.

     She was a talented seamstress, making clothing for family and friend and specialized in fitting those with challenging measurements.  Ruth was always courageous when she cut into fabric for each new project.  Her skills were lent to making pillows, stuffed animals, doll clothes, costumes for tap dancers and majorettes, dresses for wedding attendants and coverings for the Altar, Pulpit and Lectern at the church.

     Ruth made afghans for her nieces, great nieces and great nephews.  She also made scrapbooks for the nieces using colorful pictures gleaned from magazines.  She particularly loved bird and flower pictures.  She not only loved pictures but loved and grew flowers and plants all around her house, both inside and out.  She planted a garden every year in her back yard until she left her home around the age of 90.

     She enjoyed the outdoors and throughout the decades was often spotted by the residents of Wentlings Corners taking the children under her care for walks down the road or across the countryside to look at and appreciate nature.

    Survivors include four nieces:  Carolyn Whitehill Baxter and her husband, Dr. James Baxter, of Girard; Joyce Whitehill and her husband, Joseph Whitehill, of Winter Park, Florida; Ruth Whitehill Freeman of Burke, Virginia and Bernice Whitehill Pippin and her husband, Evan S. Pippin, of Ashland Township, Clarion County; numerous great nieces and nephews; great great nieces and nephews, even a couple of great great great nephews.

     Ruth loved all the children in her family and all those who had been in her care.  She held particularly fond thoughts about the last two children for whom she cared:  Theodore “Ted” Evan Pippin, married to Janet and has a son, Jonathan Evan Theodore Pippin along with Ruth Pippin Hughes, married to Kris Hughes and is expecting a baby girl very soon with a due date of April 12, 2018.

      In addition to her parents, Ruth was preceded in death by her oldest sister, Anna Mary, who was close to 3 years of age when she died of asthma and older sister, Helen Hahn Whitehill and her husband, Theodore “Ted” Roosevelt Whitehill.

    She was the last surviving member of her immediate family and lived beyond all her cousins on both sides of the family.

     Family and friends will be received from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, March 25th and from 10-11 a.m. Monday, March 26, 2018 at the William N. Rupert Mortuary, Inc., 430 Mendenhall Avenue, Knox.

     Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the funeral home with Reverend Ken Tack officiating.

     Interment will follow in the St. Paul’s Union Cemetery in Knox.

     Online condolences may be sent to Ruth’s family at www.rupertfuneralhomes.com

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