Ruth Estelle Donnocker

August 26, 1932 - August 21, 2021

Ruth Estelle Donnocker passed away peacefully and comfortably Saturday, August 21, 2021, with family at her side and aware of the love of friends and family members surrounding her. Beloved and only child of Roy Percival Donnocker and Dora Dean Grace Donnocker, Ruth was born on August 26, 1932 and raised in the Bronx, New York City. In June, 1953, Ruth graduated from Hunter College in New York City with a Bachelor of Arts in Art and a minor in Humanities. She received an MA in Education at Columbia Teacher’s College in January 1956 and embarked on a teaching career that spanned many years, many countries, and many interesting people in the arts and cultures of the world. After retirement, Ruth returned to Towanda, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, a region that was home to her mother’s extended family for generations. There she actively and enthusiastically made treasured friends, engaged with local family, embraced her lifetime career as an artist and student of art in many forms: water color and oil painting, photography, ceramics, doll-making, knitting, quilting, local community theater, flower arranging, opera, classical music, and gardening. She also was an active member of the Bradford County Historical Society, the Red Hat Club, the Quarry Glen Club, various book clubs, the French Azilum historic site, and too many other valued and valuable groups and activities to list in their entirety. She had a voracious appetite for genealogy and political issues, and enjoyed any social gathering--including cousins’ Zoom nights during the pandemic, collaborative crossword puzzles, card games, and soirees with fine food. Ruth is fondly remembered as a role model to younger women in her family and many others for how to live a full and meaningful life. Ruth is survived by her loving cousins, Wilda Rae Brusso, Frank Easton, Karen Winkel, Janice Norton, Donna Erickson, Bobbie Groth, Charlie Groth, Lori Klein Gardner, Robert Klein Sr. and Claire Klein, Lynn Lassalle-Klein, Keziah Donnocker Groth-Tuft, Adelaide Wellwood Groth-Tuft, and Frank Easton; her kinswoman, Peggy Horning; and her dear friends Linda Chernosky and Kasidy Devlin Pierce-Benjamin. In addition, she is mourned by a wide circle of friends and collaborators, representing vast spans of decades and continents. A private burial was held at Hillside Cemetery in Big Pond, PA. A memorial art show and sale will be held in her memory and in celebration of her life at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin when pandemic conditions allow. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to some of Ruth’s favorite organizations: the Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin which she attended in Athens, PA; Habitat for Humanity; the Bradford County Historical Society; and the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Memories and condolences may be expressed by visiting www.bowenfuneralhomes.com