Ruth H. McQuaide

Ruth H. McQuaide, 94, a native of the Greenwood area of Columbia County, Pennsylvania, passed away on December 14, 2012 in Duluth, Georgia, where she had resided to be near her son and daughter-in-law since 2006. She was a loving and beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Mrs. McQuaide was predeceased by her husband of 50 years Arnold C. McQuaide and her two brothers Reber and William Heacock. She is survived by her son Arnold C. (Chet) McQuaide, Jr. and wife Esther of Berkeley Lake, GA, grandson Timothy A. McQuaide, grandson James C. McQuaide and wife Hilary, and great-granddaughter Astrid, all of Los Angeles, CA, as well as by three nephews and one niece and their families. Mrs. McQuaide was well known in Columbia County as an artist, women’s club member, and volunteer. Mrs. McQuaide was a life-long member of Rohrsburg Methodist Church (Orangeville, PA), where she taught Sunday school for 30 years. She was past Chaplain and Regent of the Fort McClure Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (Bloomsburg, PA), a member of the Bloomsburg Chapter # 278 of the Order of the Eastern Star, and a member of the Huguenot Society of America. She was also a member of the Millville Utopian Club and volunteered with 4-H and Scouting activities in the Millville, PA area. Mrs. McQuaide was a 1934 graduate of Greenwood High School (10th grade) and a 1936 graduate of Millville High School (12th grade). Following graduation, she worked in hotel services at resorts in Eagles Mere, PA and in W. Palm Beach, FL. During WWII while working as a nurse’s aide in Atlantic City, NJ, she met and married her husband, then a drill sergeant in the US Army Air Corps. She returned to Greenwood where (after the war) she, her husband, and their son resided with her parents on their ancestral farm in Greenwood. She served as bookkeeper and retail clerk at the Bloomsburg Western Auto Store until its closing in 1966. She subsequently was a teacher’s aide at Greenwood Elementary School, until her retirement in 1981. Her work as a teacher’s aide inspired her to develop her life-long interest in arts and crafts, including design, painting, jewelry making, and paper arts during her retirement. She taught herself the Pennsylvania Dutch paper cutting art of Scherenschnitte and was widely known in the area for her expertise in this traditional art as a result of her many exhibitions and the classes which she conducted. She and her husband enjoyed collecting and exhibiting native herbs, hunting, fishing, growing blueberries, participating in the Ye Old and New Craftsmen of Columbia County, and especially playing “Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus” for children in the Rohrsburg/Greenwood area. Friends and family are invited to attend graveside services to be held at 11:00 am on Saturday December 22, 2012 at Millville Cemetery, Millville, PA. Pastor Darwin Goshorn, Orangeville Methodist Charge, will officiate. A reception will be held at Rohrsburg Methodist Church following the burial. A memorial service for Mrs. McQuaide will be held at the church in early 2013. In lieu of flowers, donations in her honor may be made to Rohrsburg Methodist Church. Arrangements are being handled by McMichael Funeral Home, Inc., 4394 Red Rock Road, Benton.

Ruth H. McQuaide

December 17, 2012