Ruth Van Auken Horton

RUTH VAN AUKEN HORTON, a resident of Bel Air, Maryland for almost 60 years, died January 9 at the age of 86. For the past 18 months, she had resided at Lorien Bel Air.

Ruth was born on August 13, 1918, in Auburn, New York. In 1939, she graduated from the Auburn Hospital School of Nursing. She initially worked as a school nurse. Following the outbreak of World War II, she enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps. She was sent to England where she lived through the bombing of London. Soon after D-Day, she landed at Utah Beach in Normandy. After the liberation of Belgium, Ruth was stationed in Leige for 13 months, a period which included the nearby Battle of the Bulge. She was awarded a Bronze Star for spearheading the evacuation of the Liege hospital when it was hit by a buzz bomb. She was promoted to captain upon her discharge from the Army in 1946.

In 1947, she married Richard G. Horton, a physiologist at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland and moved to Bel Air, Maryland. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Public Health Nursing at Syracuse University in 1948. She dedicated the remainder of her life to being a devoted wife and mother as well as taking an active role in their community and church.

Ruth served as a volunteer for the American Caner Society’s Reach to Recovery program. She was a member of the Historical Society of Harford County, Liriodendron, and Steppingstone Museum. For over five decades, Ruth was a leading member of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Abingdon, Maryland. Until a month before her death, she participated in the Monday Night Bridge Club which she helped form in 1957. Many of her deepest friendships grew out of the life experiences shared by this group.

Ruth, who was an avid reader and prolific letter writer, was preceded in death by her husband in 1993. She was also preceded in death by her two sisters, Dorothy Tomkinson and Janice Woodford.

She is survived by her three children, Deborah Fritz of Abingdon, Maryland, George Horton of Oakland, California, and Barbara Horton of La Grange, Georgia. She is also survived by five grandchildren, Jocelyn Fritz of Chicago, Illinois, Elise Fritz of Washington, DC, Natalie Horton of Oakland, California, and Christopher and Elisabeth Horton-Cook, both of La Grange, Georgia.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 1 St. Mary’s Church Road, Abingdon, MD 21009 or to Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, Inc., Dept. 560, Washington, DC 20042-0560.