Ruth Frances (Bryant) Rubright

Ruth's death: Monday, 1 August 2011 at home in Wernersville, Berks County, Pennsylvania; memorial service Thursday, 4 August at St. John's (Hain's) United Church of Christ, Wernersille; cremated remains interred in cemetery adjacent to church. Ruth and George were in bed sleeping when George was awakened by a sound Ruth made, but he could not resuscitate her. She had been in poor health for more than a year; in and out of nursing and medical facilities and, on one occasion, collapsing at home with no heart beat for a brief period before George was able to bring her back to life.

3. Ruth’s formal education:

From	To	School Name, Location, Diploma/Degree
1927	1933	Greene Elementary School, Greene, Chenango County, New York.
1933	1939	Greene High School, Greene, Chenango County, New York; graduated.
1939	1940	Greene High School, Greene, Chenango County, New York; extra courses.
1940	1942	Dickinson College, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania; completed two years study. Met future husband, George Rubright there; after George left to serve in the US Navy, transferred to Syracuse University to be closer to home and to save money.
1942	1944	Syracuse University, Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York; BS degree majoring in zoology. (was paid a stipend by the Pratt & Whitney Corporation to take certain engineering courses and work for them after graduation).

4. Ruth’s marriage:

a. To whom: Dr. George Lamar Rubright (photos) (more info)

(1) George’s parents: Norton Monroe and Adella Kate (Burchill) Rubright of Slatington/Frackville, Pennsylvania.

(2) George’s birth: 26 February 1921 at Frackville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.

George's death: 26 January 2017 at Reading Hospital and Medical Center, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Memorial service held 1 April 2017 in St. John's (Hain's) United Church of Christ, Wernersville, Berks County, Pennsylvania; cremated remains interred adjacent to Ruth's.

(3) George’s formal education:

From	To	School Name, Location, Diploma/Degree
1926	1932	Frackville Elementary School, Frackville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
1932	1938	Frackville High School, Frackville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
1938	1942	Dickinson College; Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania; BA degree majoring in philosophy (PhB).
1942	1946	Temple University Medical School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; medical student under the US Navy’s V-12 program; married between junior and senior years.
1946	1947	Community General Hospital, Reading, Pennsylvania; medical internship while on active duty in the US Navy Reserve.

(4) George’s military service:

From	To	Service, Location
1946	1947	Medical internship, Community General Hospital, Reading, Pennsylvania.
1947	1949	US Navy Reserve; Charlestown Naval Hospital (1,500 beds), Charlestown, South Carolina.

(5) George’s employment history:

From	To	Employer, location, job
1946	1947	Community General Hospital, Reading, Pennsylvania; internship ($50/month, which barely paid the rent).
1947	1949	Charleston Naval Hospital, Charleston, South Carolina; physician.
1949	1984	Physician in private practice (General Practitioner), Reading, Pennsylvania. See paragraph 8.b., below.
1984	Now	Retired

(6) George’s addresses before marriage:

From	To	Address
1921	1931	Resided with parents in Frackville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
1931	1938	Resided with grandparents in Frackville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania (close to his parents’ residence)
1938	1942	Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania; student at Dickinson College.
1942	1945	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; student at Temple University Medical School.

(7) Other biographical notes on George:

a. George was named after his uncle George Washington Burchill, Sr., paragraph 3.d. of generation 3 of the Burchill Annex.

b. Origin of middle name: George’s aunt, Mary Margaret (Burchill) Haupt, wanted his mother, Della, to name her 2^nd son “Lamar,” but Della refused and chose the name “Jay” instead. Shortly after Jay’s birth, Mary Margaret died (20 May 1918). When Della’s next son, George, was born, Norton and Della (Burchill) Rubright gave him the middle name “Lamar” in remembrance of one of Mary Margaret’s last wishes. Why Mary Margaret was attached to the name “Lamar,” is not known.

c. At age 10 George moved into the nearby residence of his Burchill grandparents and their two unmarried daughters, Esther and Grace. His parents’ home wasn’t large to start with, and when, in the spring of 1931, George’s sister, Alberta, and her family (husband, who was a medical student, and their baby daughter, Nancy) moved in, George was happy to move to his grandparents’ house, where he could have a room of his own. It was also a move that benefited him academically and dietetically. George’s dear aunts Esther and Grace were both school teachers, who helped guide his studies and his ambitions throughout elementary and high school. In addition, because his parents, grandparents, and another aunt lived so closely together in Frackville, at dinner time George would "shop" the three residences for the meal he liked best.

d. George and Ruth were founders and active supporters of the Wernersville Historical Society.

b. Marriage date & location: Saturday, 23 June 1945 at the First Congregational Church, Greene, Chenango County, New York; Reverend William L. Wood officiated.

c. Children:

(1) Leigh Bryant Rubright: Born 1947.

(2) Stephen Courtney Rubright: Born 1949.

(3) Ann Kasson Rubright: Born 1952.

(4) Todd Burchill Rubright: Born 1955.

(5) Christopher Jay Rubright: Born 1961.

5. Ruth’s employment history:

From	To	Employer, location, job title
1927	1940	Growing up on a poultry farm with roughly 80,000 chickens, Ruth and her siblings had many routine farm chores. She especially remembered the seemingly never-ending chore of cleaning eggs with a brush before they could be shipped for sale. Couldn’t use water because it would stain the egg shells.
1944	1945	Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Corporation, Hartford, Connecticut. Was obligated to work for Pratt & Whitney as a result of its sponsorship of her education at Syracuse University.
1945	1946	After marriage, moved to Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, where she worked for Leiberneck’s (a linen manufacturer); office worker. Commuted to/from work via trolley.

6. Ruth’s addresses:

From	To	Address
1922	1940	Resided with parents at Greene, Chenango County, New York.
1940	1942	Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania; student at Dickinson College.
1942	1944	Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York; student at Syracuse University.
1944	1945	Hartford Connecticut; employed by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Corporation.
1945	1946	Apartment behind Temple University Medical School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1945	1947	Apartment on Walnut Street, (downtown) Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
1947	1949	Rented a house in North Charlestown, South Carolina. George commuted to work at Charleston Naval Hospital in South Charleston. “Darned near froze to death” there; house’s heating system was not adequate for infrequent freezing winter temperatures. Moved July 1949, about 1 month after arrival of son, Stephen.
1949	1953	Purchased house on North 3^rd Street, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
1953	1975	RD 1 (Wooltown Road), Wernersville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 19565 (Greystone Farm, built starting about 1792 in 2 sections, the larger was built last. The original owner had 1,700 acres, which he split up into farms for his children.)
1975	1976	Transition house below next residence.
1976	2009	600 Fairmont Avenue, Wernersville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 19565 (just west of Reading on 80 acres overlooking Wernersville).
2009	2011	910 N. Penn Drive, Wernersville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 19565-9756

7. Ruth’s organizational affiliations:

From	To	Organization, offices held

8. Other biographical notes on Ruth:

a. Ruth was named for her Aunt Ruth Winifred (Reynolds)(Pollock) Whitaker, generation 2, paragraph 3.d. of the Reynolds Annex.

b. In July 1949, after military service, George and Ruth purchased and moved into a house on North 3^rd Street in Reading, Pennsylvania. George remodeled some of the downstairs rooms to serve as his medical offices. In the Thanksgiving timeframe of that year a colleague, who wanted to transition to pediatrics, offered to rent George his downtown offices while he trained for the new specialty and to transfer his GP practice to George. George accepted the offer and stepped right into the active practice. When the colleague returned from training about two years later it was clear the offices were too small for both practices, so George bought a building a few blocks away, remodeling the whole first floor for medical use, and creating two apartments on the second floor and another apartment on the third floor. He was there just two years when the City of Reading condemned the property for use as a parking lot. He lost money on the renovations, since the City would not pay what he had invested in it. George commented: “Only my rotten lawyer made money.” Then he bought another building two doors away (300 S. Fifth Street, Reading, PA 19602) from where he had started out – the other half of a large building that had been used primarily for medical offices since its construction in the 1800s. George remodeled it, preserving apartments on the second and third floors, and practiced there until he retired in 1984.

c. Ruth and George purchased the property on the hill outside Wernersville (600 Fairmont Av.), Pennsylvania in 1960 from a Mennonite farming family. In 1974 they constructed a transition house on a part of that property at the bottom of the hill to facilitate the move from their large stone house on nearby Wooltown Road. They lived there in close quarters with the contents of their previous residence, much of which remained packed, for about one year while the house on the hill was being constructed, moving into the new house in 1976. Of interest, their daughter, Leigh, and her husband also resided in the transition house for about one year.

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