FALMOUTH – Ruth A. Johnson, 87, of Ocean View in Falmouth, died on Sunday, March 8, 2020, at Falmouth-By-the -Sea, after a long illness. She was born in Methuen, Mass., Aug. 8, 1932, the daughter of Geo. Elmer Johnson and Marion G. (Jacoby) Johnson. She is survived by her brother Douglas R., two nieces, Debora and Cheryl ,a nephew, Daniel and his wife Anne, sister-in-law Jaqueline Berg, and several grand nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her brother, David, and her sister, Doris. Ruth received a B.A. in education from the University of Maine (1954) and a master’s degree at Boston University (1959). Her first teaching job was in Lisbon, Maine. She enlisted in the Army of the United States in 1957 as a lieutenant and received an honorable discharge in 1962. She was a physical education teacher in Newton, Mass., a number of years; then at Framingham Teachers College, and a short time with the Nahant (Massachusetts) School System. While also working part-time for Michaels, ultimately becoming the manager of their largest store in Nashua, N.H. She returned to Maine with Michael’s, before retiring. Ruth’s discipline was physical education and she became interested in orienteering. This interest took her to many places in the U.S.A. and Canada, parts of Europe and the Scandinavian countries. She continued this during her retirement and was first place in her age group many times as can be seen from her accumulation of 100 orienteerig medals. She has been in the Guiness Book of Records having tied with a man at 18 U.S. championships. Ruth has run the Boston Marathon and the Casco Bay Marathon, but was most interested in orienteering. In 1972 she was named “Female Athlete of the Year” by the Maine Games.A passionate volunteer, she was at the Maine Medical Surgical Center in Scarborough for 10-plus years. She was a volunteer at Audubon’s Gisland Farms, volunteered at the Spring Point Lighthouse, the Maine Agency on Aging. She has awards for thousands of hours of volunteering service. She has the President’s Volunteer Award for 2017, the Maine Medical Center Recognition for 2018 of 4,347 hours of service, The Maine Volunteer Award for 772 hours of service in 2019.A memorial service will be announced at a later date.Memorial contributions may be made to The Good Shepard Food Bank, or Maine Audubon.
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