Ruthanne Wiley
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In a sense I do not feel qualified to write this tribute. While I certainly counted Ruthanne as one of my friends, we never sat up all night talking about the meaning of life, or even shared some very personal part of ourselves. But when I arrived at the RHS 25th reunion I was told that Ruthanne had passed away I felt a deep sense of loss and I would like to share with you some of what Ruthanne meant to me.

As I remember Ruthanne grew up in the proverbial house with the white picket fence on Pleasant Avenue. She went to Summerville elementary school which is where I first met her. She was never the class clown, but always brought a smile to everyones face. I remember one time in sixth grade, I got a new Bell & Howell cassette tape recorder and brought it into class. After school several kids were hanging around the classroom and Ruthanne took the mike and tape recorder and started to do a comedy bit impersonating Andy Williams.

I don't know for a fact, but always assumed Ruthanne was a good student, but what no one could deny was her ability to make music. In that Ruthanne shined. And I was very blessed to have her play in a string trio at my first wedding in September of 1982. How wonderful it was to have her there as well as several of my other friends from my Ridgewood days. Her trio played both before and after the service and during most of the reception too. It was wonderful.

Unfortunately that was the last time I saw Ruthanne. I know she moved from the Rochester, NY area some time after that and I am sure she continued to bring joy to the lives of all she knew and knew her. She is greatly missed.

Pete Hoch