Ruth Crocker Youngdied October 3, 2018 at Harvest Hill, Lebanon, NH. Ruth was born on February 21, 1919, in Boston, the daughter of Richard W. and Constance Homer Crocker. Raised in Brookline, she graduated from Milton Academy, Milton, MA, and earned her R.N. degree from Children's Hospital School of Nursing.

After graduation, she served in the Army Nurse Corps in World War II. She was stationed in Australia where she cared for injured troops from the Pacific Theater.

After the war she worked as a pediatric nurse in Boston, where she met Paul F. Young while he was a graduate student at MIT. They were married July 10, 1948. Their honeymoon was a drive across the country to California, camping along the way. Paul started his career at the University of California at Berkeley, working as an administrative assistant while pursuing graduate studies in educational administration.

Wanting to raise their young children in New England, Paul and Ruth moved to Hanover in 1951 where they resided for six decades. They moved to The Woodlands on the Alice Peck Day campus in Lebanon, NH, when it opened in 2010, and subsequently to Harvest Hill and to the Hughes Care Unit.

Ruth was active in many community organizations. She was a Cub Scout den mother and a Ford Sayre ski instructor. She was also a member of St. Thomas Church and ran their annual Rummage Sale for many years. She was a member of the DHMC Board of Overseers. Ruth was a member and a trustee of the Howe Library Corporation and was the Chairman during the design and construction of their South Street building, where the kitchen is named in her honor. She volunteered with the American Red Cross at several blood drives on the college campus, coaching novice Dartmouth students through the process.

After Paul's retirement they spent most of the spring, summer, and fall at their cottage on Pine Island in Lake Winnipesaukee. There she attended and supported the Union Church of Meredith Neck. Ruth was dedicated to saluting the Mount Washington cruise ship when it passed their dock, and almost always got a toot of the horn and a wave back from the Captain.

She was an inveterate and intrepid knitter, producing hundreds of mittens and sweaters and hats for family and friends. The products of her baking prowess were enjoyed by family and all those visiting her house or attending any meeting with her. She resisted Paul's early overtures to teach her bridge, but after they were married she learned the game and enjoyed playing duplicate and social bridge in Hanover, Meriden and Meredith.

Ruth was predeceased by her husband in 2014, and by her brothers Homer Crocker, Brookline, MA, and Frederic Crocker, Weston, MA. She is survived by her brother Richard L. Crocker, Oakland, CA, by her four children and their spouses - Sarah C. Manning (Bruce Manning), Lawrence R. Young (Toni LaMonica), Arthur L. Young (Jeanne Young), Charles J. Young (Eileen Kane) - and by seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

The family thanks the staff of Harvest Hill, the Hughes Care Unit, and Bayada Hospice for their compassionate care and dedication to Ruth's comfort.

Friends and family will celebrate Ruth's life at a gathering on Saturday, November 3rd from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Dwinell Room at Harvest Hill in Lebanon, NH.

Ruth suggested gifts to the Howe Library in lieu of flowers.

Arrangements were under the direction of the Rand-Wilson Funeral Home of Hanover, NH.