Ruth Theresa Bedwell

Ruth Theresa Bedwell, age 71, of Newark, Delaware, passed away peacefully on March 6, 2018. Born on Thanksgiving, November 28, 1946 in Wilmington, DE, she was the daughter of the late Silver Jim and Catherine (Maier) Taylor.

Ruth enjoyed shopping every day of the year, provided that the weather and her body were willing to accommodate that desire. Her favorite haunts were WalMart, Boscov’s, Kohl’s, Target, Acme, Safeway, Shop Rite, Whole Foods, Costco, BJs, Willey Farms, Money’s, Milburn Orchards — and pretty much any place that had doors and shopping carts. Although she seemed to take pleasure in the endless hunt for clothing to fit her 4’9″ frame, the shopping mainly provided a source of continued activity to stave off aging. She absolutely loved Longwood Gardens during all of the seasons. Although the Christmas lights, chrysanthemums, and tulips were probably her favorite events there — in 2017 she became enamored with the Illuminated Fountain Performances. Every fountain show there was an opportunity to provide another unsuspecting first-timer with complete details of the show that he or she was about to witness, as well as details about the ones already missed. She was also drawn to the hippos at the Philadelphia Zoo and Adventure Aquarium, as well as “Lucky the fish” at the Aquarium. Despite the Zoo’s “no feeding” policy pertaining to the squirrels and geese, the little ones always knew that she had something for them.

She was a proud member of Christiana High School’s first graduating class — the Class of 1964.

She enjoyed maintaining all of her flowers, trees, and bushes, and particularly loved mowing the grass. In her later years, at the insistence of her son, she assumed a supervisory role in these processes. Her numerous bird houses, along with the squirrel and bird feeding stations, ensured endless hours of entertainment for her. As squirrels were oddly absent around the house, several years ago she participated in “squirrel-knapping raids” in Delaware City and Elkton. The raids resulted in the forced relocation of countless squirrels to the Glasgow area.

Ruth survived two bouts of melanoma because of the television show Marcus Welby, M.D. — proving that television can be a beneficial element in a person’s life. In her later years, her chief nemesis became rheumatoid arthritis. The disease hampered several aspects of her life, and what it didn’t affect — the treatment did. Although the disease was crippling her and literally killing her, she fought it until the very end. With the assistance of products and devices that were either purchased or made for her, she was able to continue to do numerous activities that would have been well beyond what the disease would have otherwise allowed.

Prior to losing her husband Julian, she had devoted several years to taking care of him and ensuring his comfort.

Her job with the State of Delaware involved the distribution of Federally-sourced food products to various institutions and organizations throughout Delaware. Although the main recipients were schools, the work also included TEFAP products — better known as the “free government cheese.” She spent over thirty-three years there, with at least part of her dedication caused by the fact that the State was one of the only places willing to hire a cancer survivor.

Ruth’s independent living (and sometimes very life) was dependent on a lot of folks providing a great deal of direct and indirect assistance. For all of the years of dedication and hard work, the family would like to thank the following doctors and their numerous staff members: Peter Coggins (cancer); Alfred Fletcher (primary care); David Grubbs (cardiologist); Joseph Kestner (pulmonologist); Philip Schwartz (rheumatologist); David Solocoff (orthopedist); and Ernest Troisi (podiatrist). There are others that have helped, too, and as noted above — this includes the staff members that helped with every aspect of her care. All of their help allowed Ruth to live out her life in the company of the aforementioned plant and animal life, as well as the cats and the parrot. Also, a special “thank you” to the various members of the Christiana Care Physical Therapy areas, and in particular Anu, Brian, and Mike.

Ruth is survived by her son, David Bedwell, and her brother, Jack D. Taylor and his wife, Sue. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, Julian R. Bedwell, and her brothers, James D. Taylor (Colorado) and Stephen S. Taylor (Tennessee).

Services for Ruth will be held privately at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made payable to the “American Cancer Society” or the “Delaware Humane Association” and sent in care of R.T. Foard and Jones, Inc., 122 W. Main Street, Newark, DE 19711.