Ruth Mildred Booth

Ruth M. Booth, loving wife of Bob; sweet mother, mother-in-law, grandmother and great grandmother; loyal friend to many; extraordinary embroiderer; devoted community volunteer; and 37-year resident of Siesta Key died at age 91 on September 2, 2019 in Sarasota following a brief illness. Ruth lived in good spirits, with keen independence, in her warm condo in Turtle Bay.

Born on March 24, 1928 in New York City, the only daughter of August and Elsie Gokemeier, from Bremerhaven, Germany, Ruth grew up in Elmhurst, N.Y. She graduated from Newtown High School in 1946. Her family spent summers by the beach at Stony Brook on Long Island.

As a young woman, Ruth worked at AT&T in Manhattan. She met her future husband Robert E. Booth, a World War II veteran and Fordham University graduate at a church dance. Bob and Ruth married in 1949, and resided in New York, Atlanta and Houston. They raised three children, before arriving in Sarasota in 1982.

Ruth was a member of the Church of the Incarnation, and its Women’s Club, Good Samaritans and Bereavement Ministry. For many years, she was a committed book-shelver at the Gulf Gate Library and a volunteer at the Bethesda House, a community center for persons with HIV/AIDS.

Ruth took great pleasure and friendship from her long association with the Sarasota Chapter of the Embroiderers Guild of America, especially her Sampler Group.

Ruth is survived by her three children: Christine Booth Padon and husband Patrick of Houston; William Booth and wife Anne-Marie O’Connor of London, England; Daniel Booth and wife Nina of Monkton, Maryland; and grandchildren William Reilly Padon and his wife Rita; Katherine Elizabeth Padon; Iliana Marie Booth and Daniel Robert Booth; and her great grandson William Conrad Padon.

A mass celebrating Ruth’s life will take place at Church of the Incarnation, 2901 Bee Ridge Road, at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019. A reception will follow. Ruth will be buried beside her beloved Bob at Sarasota National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations please to Bethesda House, 1670 4th St, Sarasota, FL 34236.