Ruth Clara Stetson Hyde, 85, completed life’s journey on March 15, 2006 at the Kansas Masonic Home. Memorial services will be held at 3:00 pm on March 19 at the KMH.
Ruth’s was born on June 3, 1920 in Rutland, Vermont, to Rev. Clifford and Margaret Stetson. She spent much of her childhood in Japan as a missionary’s daughter and then moved to New England when she was an older student.
She met her husband, Fred, in Rochester, N.Y. while she was attending the Rochester Institute of Technology. They were married in Vermont and resided in many places including New York, Arizona, California, Idaho, North Carolina, Vermont and New Mexico. They moved to the Kansas Masonic Home in Wichita in 2000, where they attended University Friends Church and Pilgrim Congregational UCC. They made friends wherever they lived, and Ruth was renowned for maintaining contact with them.
Their travels continued throughout the U.S. in cooperation with many volunteer organizations including Habitat for Humanity and both national and state park services. These travels were indicative of her lifelong passion for helping others, especially those less fortunate, and her desire to find beauty wherever she went.
Ruth is survived by her husband, Fred R. Hyde of Wichita, Kan.; sister, Dorothy Conlon of Sarasota, Fla.; and sons Bill Hyde and wife, Dolly of Grand Junction, Colo., Weldon Hyde and wife, Linda of Fredonia, Kan., and Gordy Hyde of Bothell, Wash. She had four grandchildren, Derek (Bobbi) of Pittsburg, Kan., Jessica and Will of Bothell, Wash., and John of Grand Junction, Colo., and two great-grandsons, Marion and Christian of Pittsburg, Kan. She was preceded in death by her sister, Jean Cate of Montpelier, Vt.
Memorial contributions may be made to Habitat for Humanity International, 121 Habitat St., Americus, GA, 31709-3498 or the Heifer Project International, P.O. Box 8058, Little Rock, AR, 72203. An online guest book is available at www.watsonfuneral.com.