Ruth Athalia Parker

Ruth Athalia Parker of Perry, New York
Family, friends, and the greater community of Perry are saddened to have lost Ruth Athalia Parker at the age of 98, as she passed peacefully into God’s kingdom on Friday, February 11, 2022 at the Wyoming County Skilled Nursing Facility in Warsaw.
Ruth was born March 20, 1923, in Perry, the daughter of Lawrence and Athalia Davis Parker. She graduated from Perry High School in 1941, followed in her mother’s footsteps in becoming a teacher and received her teaching degree in 1945 from Geneseo… After starting her teaching career in Canisteo, NY, and then moving to Fayetteville-Manlius Central School near Syracuse in 1948, she completed her Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from Syracuse University in 1954. Ruth continued her teaching in the F-M School District until retiring in 1978. In addition to loving every student she ever encountered for their innate intelligence and curiosity, Ruth was proud and significantly influenced by her opportunity to spend the 1956-57 academic year as an exchange teacher in Torquay, England and maintained her friendships with students and hosts for her entire life that included many visits here and on return trips to England.
Ruth is pre-deceased by her father in 1972 and mother in 1990, and her two brothers, Lawrence S. Parker as a child in 1933 and Fletcher D. Parker in 2018. She is also pre-deceased by niece Lucinda A. Parker, last May.
Beyond the hundreds of children she reached in the classroom, her many student teacher trainees, and her educator colleagues, Ruth had a life-long devotion to her closest family, which included her seven nieces and nephews, the children of Fletcher and Hazel Parker, and their families. She is survived by sister-in-law Hazel Parker and by nieces and nephews Eric (Peggy) Parker of Perry, Laurie (Howard is deceased) Hartley of Spring, Texas, Kristin (Brian) Cox of Perry, Calvin Parker of Perry, Beth (Sarah Fogler) Parker of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and Brian (Kathy) Parker of Perry and many great and great-great nieces and nephews.
Upon her retirement from teaching, Ruth became the consummate volunteer in the Perry community. She was a member of the Brick Presbyterian Church, a Sunday School teacher, their volunteer in nearly every activity, and their representative in the Genesee Valley Presbytery association of churches for decades. Her interest in her church history and in the extended Parker family history led to her decades of serving as historian for both, collector of family stories and promoter for most of a century of family Parker Reunions. She worked tirelessly taking care of elderly, organizing workers for the Community Clothes Closet, and she loved volunteering to read with children in our area schools and worked closely with Project Read in schools and libraries to promote literacy. Her volunteer service efforts earned her recognition by the Rotary Club of Perry as a Paul Harris Fellow in 2009.
Ruth loved to travel and took several multi-nation trips, usually with a friend or colleague. She traveled to Mexico, Europe on three occasions, throughout the US and Canada, to North Africa and the Middle East, and to China and the Silk Road countries of remote inner-Asia both during and after her teaching career. These trips became great sources of understanding people and cultures that she generously shared with her students and her nieces and nephews. She was always eager to offer stories derived from her experiences; to share her wealth of knowledge about the people she encountered throughout her long and richly lived 98 years.
A memorial service and reception is being planned for Friday, February 25, 2022 at the Brick Presbyterian Church in Perry at 4 pm. Preceding the service there will be an opportunity for friends and neighbors to meet in the church fellowship area behind the sanctuary from noon until 3 pm on that same Friday.
Consider a memorial gift to the Brick Presbyterian Church, 6 Church Street, Perry, NY 14530, or to Project Read. A gift in Ruth’s name may be made to a charity of your choice, as well.