NORWICH – Ruth Murray Matteson, 93, of Norwich and former long time resident of Mt. Upton, passed away Friday, Nov. 2, 2012 in the Chenango Memorial Hospital.
Ruth was born in Rockdale on June 29, 1919, the daughter of Darius and Ethel Burton Murray. She grew up on the family farm in Mt. Upton and was a 1939 graduate of the Mt. Upton High School, where she was valedictorian of her class. On Dec. 7, 1940 in Rockdale, she married Dever Matteson, who passed away in 1994. She spent her entire life on the family farm until it was sold in the mid 2000s. In addition to the farm, Ruth had also worked for American Plastics in Bainbridge and Bendix in Sidney, but her main life’s work was on the farm.
Ruth thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren fishing, tubing and swimming in the Unadilla river. She also enjoyed a good game of pitch, was an avid reader, enjoyed a hot cup of tea and had many wild times with her sisters.
Ruth is survived by her grandchildren Wendy Ponton and husband Thomas of Madison, Bryan Packer and wife Robyn of Pleasant View, Tenn., her great grandchildren, Scott and Haley Ponton, Braden, Tim and Michelle Packer and her sister Helen (Betty) Windsor of Norwich. Also surviving are her half-sisters Frances Rathmell and husband Bill of Walton, Marion Chapman and Patricia Fuller both of Deposit, her sister-in-law Freda Murray and several nieces and nephews.
Besides her husband Dever, Ruth was predeceased by her daughter Donna Cronauer and her brothers Donald and Robert Murray and her half-brothers Dyke and Bill Murray.
A funeral service for Ruth will be held at noon Thursday from the R.J. Fahy Funeral Home. Interment will be at a later date in the Maplewood Cemetery of Mt. Upton. Friends may call at the R.J. Fahy Funeral Home on Thursday from 9:30 until the time of the service at noon.