Ruth Anne Schoonmaker Hood, 93, passed away peacefully after a brief illness while surrounded by children, their spouses, and grandchildren, at Wesley Long Hospital, Wednesday, January 3, 2024.
Ruth Anne was born in South Amherst, Massachusetts, the seventh child of Robert Selleck Schoonmaker and Esther Head Cadbury Schoonmaker, growing up on a farm where her family raised chickens and apples. She attended local schools, graduating from Amherst High School in 1947. She continued her education at Oberlin College, receiving her degree in Religion with a minor in Sociology. While at Oberlin, she met and fell in love with Malcolm Woodhams Hood, of Kenmore, New York, whom she married on August 24, 1951 following their graduation that year. Together they raised a family of five children, moving around the country for various educational and job-related reasons before settling in Miami Springs, Florida, in 1962.
In addition to being a full-time homemaker and caregiver for her husband due to his severe rheumatoid arthritis, Ruth Anne worked in Christian education at Miami Springs United Methodist Church and as a teacher’s assistant, first at Miami Springs Elementary School and later at Guilford Primary School in Greensboro, following her husband’s abrupt death in 1982 and her subsequent move to North Carolina in 1983. After retiring from Guilford County Public Schools, she volunteered for twenty-four years at the Friends Historical Collection (now the Quaker Archives) at Guilford College and for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) as a regional representative. She was a long-time, active member of New Garden Friends Meeting, serving the meeting in multiple capacities.
She moved to Friends Homes in Greensboro in 2009, where she greatly enjoyed cherished friendships, working in the Library, and serving on the House and Grounds Committee.
Her Quaker family heritage and a work trip to Lima, Ohio, sponsored by the AFSC in the summer of 1949, inspired her lifelong interest in peace and social justice work. She spoke out publicly in favor of school desegregation in Miami in the early 1970s when opposition to busing white children to black schools was vitriolic, and she participated in protests against the Vietnam and Iraq wars, at times taking her children and grandchildren along. She served on the New Garden Friends Meeting Peace and Social Concerns Committee, sustaining her concern for those traditionally excluded from the rights and privileges due to all.
While she enjoyed gardening, knitting, music, reading, watching old movies, and travel-including memorable trips to England, New Zealand, Alaska, her cherished New England, and the American west-family always stayed at the center of her attention. She felt particularly blessed to have had a reunion this past fall with many nieces, nephews, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren from all around the country. She was especially devoted to her five children, their spouses, and their families.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her loving husband, Malcolm; all her six siblings and their spouses; two nephews; and her grandson, Jonathan Mooneyham. She is survived by her children-Kate Seel (Roger), Jim (Sara Beth Terrell), Stephen (Mary), David (Pam), and Alan (Erica Martin)-seven grandchildren-Julia, Rachel Mooneyham, Daniel (Madeleine Straubel), James (Mary Elise Topp), Andrew, Morgan Kollmeyer (Peter), and Kathryn-and her great-grandchildren-Caroline Ruth Wilson, Pamela Louise Kollmeyer, and Maya Toporowsky-Hood.
A service in the manner of Friends celebrating Ruth Anne’s life will take place in the Living Room at Friends Homes on Sunday, January 7, 2024 at 3 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 (AFSC.org) or the charity of your choice.
Forbis & Dick Guilford Chapel
5926 W. Friendly Avenue