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Ruth Donovan Ruth
Ruth Donovan Ruth, a pediatrician and Sag Harbor summer resident for more than 60 years, died peacefully on July 29, 2022 at her home in Rye, N.Y., surrounded by her family. She was 98 years old.
Mom was born on May 12, 1924 to Katherine and Timothy Donovan, the youngest of four children from a close-knit American Irish family in Park Slope, Brooklyn. In 1945 she earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and math from The Notre Dame College of Maryland, then decided to become a physician, with the enthusiastic support of her parents. Mom received her medical degree in 1949 from the Long Island School of Medicine, known today as the SUNY Downstate College of Medicine.
Following an internship at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, Mom completed her residency in pediatrics at Columbia-Presbyterian Babies Hospital in Manhattan and entered private practice with Dr. Lillian Dooher in East Williston, N.Y.
In 1956, Mom went on a first date with Joseph Ruth, a civil engineer and widower with three children: Joe, Jack and Cathy. She recalled that the thought crossed her mind after their date that his last name might present a challenge should a relationship progress to marriage. Perhaps it would be better to introduce him to her college friend Alice instead. After their second date, however, she decided she might like to keep him for herself.
The couple married in 1957, and “Ruth Ruth” she became, moving to live with Joe and his family in Eastchester N.Y. Joe introduced his new wife to Sag Harbor, N.Y., his hometown, where they spent every summer, enjoying many gatherings with the Ruth and McGreevy extended families at Long Beach.
Over the next decade the couple had four more children: Mary, Anne, Julie and Tim, and moved to Scarsdale, N.Y. in 1967.
As a physician, Mom was always known professionally as Dr. Donovan, a loving tribute to the parents who financed her medical school education. When her youngest child, Tim, entered first grade in 1971, Mom embarked on a rewarding new professional chapter, obtaining a fellowship to specialize in the diagnosis and care of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
She began working with Dr. Margaret Giannini, founder of the Mental Retardation Institute (MRI) in Manhattan, one of the first clinics in the U.S. devoted exclusively to serving patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities and providing support to their families. In 1972 Dr. Giannini asked Mom to direct MRI’s outpatient department at its new campus at Westchester County Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., part of what is known today as the Westchester Institute for Human Development. Mom agreed, provided that she could still see patients every day.
For more than 15 years Mom led a first-rate team at MRI in partnership with Dr. Elinor Binnebosel, using Dr. Giannini’s ground-breaking, multi-disciplinary model to provide diagnostic and therapeutic services, as well as a full range of medical services, education and social services to individuals with special needs and their families.
After the death of her beloved husband Joe in 1974, Mom lovingly completed the responsibilities of raising their four children as a single parent.
In 1996, Mom moved to Sterling Park in Rye, the independent living section of The Osborn, where she formed many cherished friendships and kept a social calendar that was the envy of her children. She continued to enjoy summers with her family at her Redwood home in Sag Harbor for the remainder of her life.
She is survived by her daughters Mary, Anne and Julie; her son Tim and his wife Christina; and her grandchildren, Natalie and Joseph. Funeral services were held Aug. 5 at The Church of the Resurrection in Rye.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate it if donations could be made in Mom’s memory to Doctors Without Borders.
To view her complete obituary, please visit www.grahamfuneralhomerye.com.
Staff Writer on Aug 16, 2022