Ruth E. Hirst

Ruth Galway Hirst, 97, formerly of 147 Bay Spring Avenue, Barrington; died on Thursday, May 16, 2013. Ruth was born May 24, 1915, in Boston to William B. and Alice M. Little Galway and grew to be a wonderful and spirited woman. She graduated from Roxbury Memorial High School for Girls in 1932, and from Simmons College in 1936. She worked for the Factory Mutual Engineering Division where she met the love of her life. On September 9, 1939, Ruth Galway and Heston Stillings Hirst of Concord, NH were joined in marriage. They lived in the Boston area until 1944, when they moved to Barrington where they loved and raised their children, and lived for the rest of their lives. Ruth was a kind, caring, and active woman whose dedicated service benefitted many organizations including the League of Women Voters, the Republican Women's Club, the Barrington Garden Club, the West Barrington PTA and Planned Parenthood of RI, where she volunteered for over 20 years. She was particularly active in the First Unitarian Church of Providence as a member of the Women's Alliance and Church Bazaar Chair. Ruth loved gardening, walking, riding her bike about town and often could be seen feeding the ducks on Mathewson Road accompanied by her grandchildren. She was an accomplished cook whose lime, pineapple and cheese salad earned her first prize in the RI Supreme Dairy Bake-off. Ruth is survived by a daughter, Ann Sande of Grand Forks, ND, and two sons, Edgar W. and his wife, Robin, of Marina del Rey, CA , and George D. and his wife Nan, of South Kingstown; and by grandchildren Hans and Dana Sande, Lincoln and Adam Hirst, and Meghan Schmidt and Katherine Hirst, step grandchildren Courtney and Noah LeClaire-Conway and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her sister, Alice Vance, and brother, James Galway. A memorial service will be held on Ruth's birthday, Friday, May 24, at 4 PM at the First Unitarian Church, 1 Benevolent St., Providence. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Ruth's memory may be made to Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island 111 Point Street P.O. Box 41059 Providence, RI 02903 or The Perkins School for the Blind, 175 North Beacon Street, Watertown, MA, 02472.