Ruth (Naomi Horwitz) Broder

Ruth N. Broder died after a brief illness on Friday, June 1, 2007 in Portland, ME. She was 98. She passed away peacefully surrounded by family. At the age of 92 she had moved from her home town of Colchester, CT to Yarmouth, ME and then to Falmouth, ME where she resided at Sedgewood Commons. Ruth Naomi Horowitz was born in1909, one of ten children of Isaac and Bessie Horowitz. Her father was a merchant who ran the only ice cream parlor in town. She and her twin sister Laura were inseparable allies. With so many siblings and an ice cream parlor in the center of a small Connecticut town, Ruth’s life was centered on her family. Dark-haired and petite, she graduated from the local high school ( Bacon Academy) in 1927 and studied art and sculpture at the Pratt Institute in New York and the Hartford Art School. During World War II, she worked at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford, drawing mechanical designs for warplane engines. Ruth was a talented painter and sculptor. Working in clay she crafted life-like images of family members and friends. Her impressionistic oil paintings captured the New England landscape that she loved. While Ruth did not marry until she was 36, in a portent of things to come Jacob “Yank” Broder, a friend and classmate wrote the following in her yearbook in 1926: “To Ruth: Oh how I wish I hadn’t met a certain blonde! Someday - who can tell” Maybe it’ll be a brunette. Sincerely, Yank.” After World War II they married and lived in Colchester. They raised two sons, Jamie and Jonnie, and were both active members of the community Ruth was a life member of Hadassah. Ruth was a homemaker. Many of her siblings, nieces and nephews also lived in Colchester. For the cousins who traveled in a pack known as the “Stat Army”, the big question of each day was which aunt was making the best dinner. It appears, however, that the aunts actually knew about this. It is rumored that there may have been a conspiracy among the aunts to avoid all of them making dinner. It is said that they would sometimes agree that one would make a favorite of the kids and thereby attract the entire Stat Army for dinner. A true win win situation. Aunt Ruthie’s chicken soup and apple pie were always sure winners. After her husband’s sudden death in 1970, she remained in her Fernwood Drive home, where she stayed active with her family and with her gardens. She remained a member of the Avath Achim Synagogue on Lebanon Ave. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in the late 90’s she remained at home under the loving care of Elma Reeves until her move in April of 2001 to an assisted living facility in Maine near her son Jamie and daughter in law Lee. Her older sister Pauline, now 101, called every week to chat with her “baby sister.” Her grandson Yank credits his Grandma Ruthie with his lifelong addiction to cheeseburgers. She is survived by her sister and brother in law, Pauline, 101, and Alan Lowenthal, of Tuscon, Arizona; her son and daughter in law, Jamie and Lee Broder of Cumberland Foreside, Maine, son and daughter in law Jon Broder and Judy Donner of Chevy Chase, Maryland; grandson, Jacob “Yank” Broder and grand-daughter-in-law Lucy Davenport Broder of Los Angeles, grandson Josh Broder of Portland, Maine, and granddaughters Julia Broder and Noa Broder, both of Chevy Chase, Maryland. Arrangements entrusted to Weinstein Mortuary, Hartford. A graveside funeral service will be held in Colchester at the Ahavath Achim Cemetery, Colchester at 2:00pm on Thursday June 7. Family and friends will gather after the funeral at the home of her nephew Rob and Deb Hurwit at 83 Cambridge Drive, South Windsor, CT 06074. A period of mourning will be observed at the home of Jamie and Lee Broder in Cumberland Foreside, Maine on Saturday evening, June 9th starting at 8:00PM. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Maine Chapter of the Alzheimers Association.