Ruth P. Abrahamson, 90, of Ridgefield, passed away at Hancock Hall, Danbury, CT. on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. She was the loving wife of the late Arnold C. Abrahamson.
Ruth was born at home, on January 25, 1929, on the Saltvik Åland family farm, in Finland, called "Vestergård: Erik Mattssons", which Ruth named her oldest son Erik after, in legacy. The Eriksson-Vestergård farm has been documented in Ruth's family dating back to the year 1616. A daughter of the late Johan and Julia (Carlsson) Eriksson, Ruth also had two brothers named Lasse & Åke, and one sister named Ilse, all pre-deceased. The family owns part of a small island chain where summer cottages and saunas on the sea were always something to look forward to during the cold Scandinavian winters.
Ruth left Åland, Finland in 1955, for the USA, on her own, at age 26, booking a sea passage on the M/S Stockholm, bound for NYC. Once in NYC, she lived with her Aunt Ester in Astoria Queens, and during the 1950's and 1960's, she worked with a foreign visa permit, as a certified shorthand secretary for an International former British Government Agent, and also in her Aunt Ester's beauty parlor in Manhattan called 'Princess Beauty Salon', at 1447 1st Ave., as a licensed N.Y.S. hairdresser.
While living in Queens in the 1950's to the 1960's, Ruth met her future husband Arnold at Orchard Beach, Bronx, NYC, on a summer day when Arnold was working as an Orchard Beach lifeguard, shortly after being retired from the FDNY in 1967. Arnold spent part of his 22 year FDNY career at Ladder 53 on City Island, a short distance away from Orchard Beach.
A resident of Ridgefield since 1973; Ruth was a member of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, working on the altar guild, and a member of The Manhem Club in The Bronx, and also finding time raising a family to be a Secretary in the Ridgebury Garden Club. Her volunteer activities also included a brief stint as a den mother for the Boy Scouts in the early 1980's.
Ruth worked for over a decade on the pharma production line at Boehringer Ingelheim, after her boys graduated high school, earning herself a part-time paycheck, and most importantly, meeting her girlfriends for life as co-workers.
She is survived by her two sons: Erik Abrahamson of Ridgefield, and Carl Abrahamson and his wife, Alison, of North Salem, N.Y. During Ruth's time on Åland, Finland, between 1929 and 1955, she was named God Mother to multiple children, who loved her as dearly as her own two boys.
Friends will be received on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at Kane Funeral Home; 25 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield. Funeral services will take place on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 2:00 PM at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church; 351 Main Street, Ridgefield. Interment will be private.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the St. Stephen’s Church Altar Guild at 351 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT. and/or The FDNY Foundation at 9 Metrotech Center, room 5E-9, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201, who helped provide Ruth with health Insurance, under the FDNY widows COBRA, after her FDNY husband passed away in 2009.
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