CORNWALL — Ruth Phillips Foote, 97, the widow of Edward M. Foote Jr. of Cornwall, died April 16, 2008, at her home at Pomperaug Woods in Southbury.
She was born Sept. 29, 1910, in New York City, the daughter of Edna Louise (Pine) and Frank Elbert Phillips. A graduate of New York University, Mrs. Foote was a teacher of speech in the New York Public School system until 1939.
A former Trustee of the Allen-Stevenson School and of the Riverside Church in New York, she was also a member of the National Board of Motion Picture Review.
Mr. and Mrs. Foote moved to Cornwall in 1950, where she served on the Northwest Connecticut Girl Scout Council and was a trustee of the Cornwall Library Association. She became a deaconess of the United Church of Christ in Cornwall, and was a corporator of the Cornwall Historical Society and president of the Women’s Society.
For many years she was a reader for Recording for the Blind, Inc., and for the Connecticut Voluntary Services for the Blind and Disabled.
Mr. and Mrs. Foote gave Foote Fields for Cornwall’s town and school athletic programs.
After Mr. Foote’s death, Mrs. Foote moved to Heritage Village in Southbury, and to Pomperaug Woods in 1988. There she served on the Resident Council and House Committee. She became a member of the North Congregational Church in Woodbury.
She is survived by her son, Steven M. Foote of Cambridge, Mass.; her daughters, Sarah F. Hubby of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Elizabeth F. Pope of Friday Harbor, Wash.; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at the North Congregational Church in Woodbury on June 26. She will be buried in Cornwall.
In lieu of flowers, remembrance may be made to North Congregational Church.
