COOPERSTOWN – Ruth C. Stewart, 96, passed away on January 19th, 2026, a beautiful snowy night, in her home on Eagle Street in Cooperstown, surrounded by love. Coming home was as comforting to her as it was to all of us who love her well. We are blessed.
Born April 2nd,
1929, in Buffalo, New York, the youngest daughter of Joseph and Winifred
(Williams) Cousins, Ruth graduated from South Park High School in 1947. Married
to Milo V. Stewart Sr., in 1951, the family of five moved to Cooperstown, NY in
1961 where the two youngest children were born.
Ruth was talented,
tenacious, beautiful and fearless, and her smile is unforgettable. The garden
was where you’d most often find her, digging and planting and standing back to
assess and then to rearrange. Her garden is a secret oasis of year-round beauty
where we all took refuge for intimate talks, play in the yard and large parties
filled with laughter, great food and lively exchanges between professionals and
students alike. Two family weddings took place in the delightful garden. The
house on Eagle Street was Ruthie’s kingdom, the kitchen the expression of her
love and the garden her masterpiece.
Ruth’s love for Milo and
our family was deep, enduring and devoted. They were each other’s first and
only love. 2025 marked their seventy fourth wedding anniversary and eighty-two
years since they met. Five children with boundless energies and talents, seven
grandsons with exponentially more energy and talents and one great grandson, made
for a very lively household. Tragedies happened, but the strength and
resilience of a girl child of the depression carried us through on the broadest
of shoulders. Ruthie’s stature belied the tower of strength that she was.
Ruth’s talents were
expressed in her artisanry. She was versed in many artistic expressions of the
early American decorative arts guilds, cut and pierced lampshade design and
fabrication and especially picture framing, which is an art and a technical
skill. Ruthie was an accomplished seamstress and knitter, spinner and weaver. Her
archival quality picture framing business was a thriving home business, with
examples in local homes and museums. Ruthie was a perfectionist.
Ruth moved to the Clara
Welch Thanksgiving Home in 2021, a plan she had made many years prior, and where
she made many deep connections with staff and residents alike. The Thanksgiving
Home is a place she loved and where she was loved and we are grateful beyond
measure for our collective experience there.
A sense of humor,
boundless sense of adventure, mad dance moves, her memory for poetry,
children’s games, and love of music, all music, fill our hearts and our
memories. Ruth would love to be remembered for her dedication to her physical
well-being, which came naturally and out of her restless spirit to keep busy
and to accomplish a good day’s work. This served her well and is an inspiration
to all who shared a spin class, a rock wall, a zip line ride or a swim across
the lake. If you ever saw an older woman walking briskly around town in all
weather, chances are it was Ruthie. Give
a wave, tip your hat and bid that little lady a fond fair wish. She will most
certainly return the sentiment.
Ruth is survived by
daughter Elizabeth Stewart Solá of Lake Grove, Long Island; daughter Sarah A.
Stewart (Robert Amore) of Cooperstown and New York City; son Milo Stewart Jr.,
of Cooperstown. Seven grandchildren, Kyle Sola (Isabell Gatzen Solá, and their
son Gray Solá), Troy Solá (Mae Sussman), Hunter Solá (their father José Sola), Noble
S. Mattson (his father Christopher Mattson), Henry Stewart (Bailey Stewart),
John Stewart, (their mother Jennifer Stewart), and Weston Honicker (Marie DiLorenzo
Honicker) (his father Russ Honicker).
Ruth was predeceased by
her husband Milo Sr., who died September 12th, 2011, and two daughters,
Ann Stewart Honicker who died May 1st, 2016, and Cynthia Ann Stewart
who died September 1st, 1971.
She is further
predeceased by her siblings, Laurence H. Cousins, Winifred J. Hanny, Dorothy L.
MacHose and Marion L. Wikoff Chambers.
A Memorial Service will be offered at 1
o’clock in the afternoon on April 11th, 2026 at Christ Episcopal
Church in Cooperstown, NY.
Burial will be private in
Lakewood Cemetery in Cooperstown.
Contributions in Ruth’s
memory may be made to either one of the following:
Ann Stewart Summer
Internship Fund C/O Cooperstown Graduate Program PO BOX 4 Cooperstown, NY 13326.
Checks made payable to SUNY Oneonta Foundation memo Anne Stewart Fund.
Thanksgiving Fund C/O
Clara Welch Thanksgiving Home 48 Grove Street Cooperstown, NY 13326. Checks
made payable to Thanksgiving Fund.
Arrangements are under
the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in
Cooperstown.
