Ruth Coombs Henry, 93, passed away on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, at her home in Sharon, Massachusetts. Ruth was born in 1927 to Roy and Isabel (Harman) Coombs in Newton, Massachusetts. She grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts, and later earned a degree in Hospital Dietetics from the University of New Hampshire. It was at college that Ruth met the love of her life, John Archibald Henry, whom she married in 1948. After a brief time in West Virginia, Ruth and John returned to New England to raise their family, first in Exeter and Kensington, NH, then to Sharon and Holliston, MA. Ruth worked as a teacher, first of Home Economics and Health in Foxboro, MA, and later at the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, MA, where she taught cooking and life skills. A woman of great empathy, she easily identified with her students and was able to help them overcome many challenges. She and John also provided significant support for the development of Landry's Bicycles, owned by sons Peter and Tom along with the employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

To the end of her life, Ruth pursued knowledge -- especially regarding how to live a healthy life -- and she shared this knowledge with family and friends. She led her life with love and kindness, and she connected with people easily. Wherever she lived, Ruth was active in church, most recently at the First Congregational Church in Sharon. She was curious, open to new ideas, and always looking for ways to help others. After John was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Ruth devoted herself to his care. She participated in memory research and in fundraising for the Alzheimer's Association. At age 72, with unswerving determination, she trained and rode her bicycle 100+ miles over two days in the annual Memory Ride (now called the Ride to End Alzheimer's). She continued these rides, deciding only after her 79th birthday to work as a volunteer crew member rather than participating as a rider.

Still, Ruth's remarkable life in the public sphere pales in comparison to how she lived among her family and friends. There were countless adventures in the White Mountains and Vermont camping, backpacking, canoeing, bicycling, and skiing, as well as cross-country road trips and excursions to Europe. She took great joy in gathering the family for holidays, where she led the family in song and storytelling, as well as for lobster picnics in her beloved Rockport, MA. Ruth also enjoyed the friendship of a community of musicians; she was a lifelong recorder player and continued performing and taking lessons until the end of her life. Ruth often said she was never bored, as she was delighted by every little detail of life, every thought and feeling of others, and by the wonder and beauty of nature. In her later years, with her warm smile, she would say that she had a wonderful life and that she knew she was very lucky. Ruth's children were able to care for her at the end of her life, devoted to her, just as she had always been to them.