Ruth M. Brown was a wonderfully kind and soft-spoken lady who spoke volumes with her paint brush throughout her long life. She loved the natural beauty of her native area of Keuka Lake in western New York--the sunsets, the wildflowers and the colors of the changing seasons. She watched the grapes of the vineyards of her and her family ripen from the palest green to that lush burgundy, and often captured any stage in a painting. Among her many art projects, she would design and print a specially-designed Christmas card each year to send out to family members and friends. She was very adept in many art mediums. Both family and loving friends will miss her, but will feel her presence in the early spring bloom of flowers. She was a loving wife, mother, sister and aunt. She lived her life on a farm in Penn Yan, in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, heavily involved in the concord grape industry. After her wonderful loving husband Erwin passed on she continued to live on her own until she began showing signs of Alzheimer's and her daughter (and only child) and son-in-law decided to move her to a rest home in Kansas City, Missouri, to be close to them so they could see that she was well cared for. While there, she continued her wonderful artwork, and the staff would frequently enter her paintings at the local fair, where she would often be awarded prize ribbons for her work. She went to sleep peacefully on November 5, 2012, at age 94. Her remains were returned to Penn Yan, where her life was celebrated at 11am on Saturday November 10, 2012 at the United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, the offering of contributions to the Yates County Art Center and the Heart of America Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association were urged. Ruth joined her husband Erwin W. Brown in the Second Milo Cemetery in Yates County. She was also predeceased by brothers Paul, Harold and Kenneth McMaster. She was survived by daughter and son-in-law Judith and Dan Lillis of Kansas City, Missouri.
Ruth M. Brown was a wonderfully kind and soft-spoken lady who spoke volumes with her paint brush throughout her long life. She loved the natural beauty of her native area of Keuka Lake in western New York--the sunsets, the wildflowers and the colors of the changing seasons. She watched the grapes of the vineyards of her and her family ripen from the palest green to that lush burgundy, and often captured any stage in a painting. Among her many art projects, she would design and print a specially-designed Christmas card each year to send out to family members and friends. She was very adept in many art mediums. Both family and loving friends will miss her, but will feel her presence in the early spring bloom of flowers. She was a loving wife, mother, sister and aunt. She lived her life on a farm in Penn Yan, in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, heavily involved in the concord grape industry. After her wonderful loving husband Erwin passed on she continued to live on her own until she began showing signs of Alzheimer's and her daughter (and only child) and son-in-law decided to move her to a rest home in Kansas City, Missouri, to be close to them so they could see that she was well cared for. While there, she continued her wonderful artwork, and the staff would frequently enter her paintings at the local fair, where she would often be awarded prize ribbons for her work. She went to sleep peacefully on November 5, 2012, at age 94. Her remains were returned to Penn Yan, where her life was celebrated at 11am on Saturday November 10, 2012 at the United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, the offering of contributions to the Yates County Art Center and the Heart of America Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association were urged. Ruth joined her husband Erwin W. Brown in the Second Milo Cemetery in Yates County. She was also predeceased by brothers Paul, Harold and Kenneth McMaster. She was survived by daughter and son-in-law Judith and Dan Lillis of Kansas City, Missouri.
