GRAY – Ruth Stevens Doughty Pierce of Gray passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020 at the age of 80. Ruth passed peacefully in her home with her husband and family by her side.

Ruth was born on May 20, 1940 in Portland. She attended the local schools in Gray and graduated from the Pennell Institute in 1958. Ruth went on to attend the Maine School of Practical Nursing in Waterville and received her LPN in 1961. Ruth worked as an operating room nurse at the Osteopathic Hospital in Portland. She loved her work and spent many hours on-call and in the operating room with doctors and co-workers that she would go on to call lifelong friends.

Ruth lived a full and rich life with her husband Ted. In 1962, Ruth married Ted Pierce, and they went on to live for a short time in Massachusetts, where Ruth worked as an operating room nurse at Saugus General Hospital. Upon moving back to Maine, Ruth and Ted lived in an old family farmhouse with her parents while they built a foundation and renovated an old home next door. She and Ted continued to live on Yarmouth Road until 1986, when they built a log home on the site of an old family camp on Little Sebago Lake in Gray.

Anyone who knew Ruth would know she loved to cook, and she was well known for her pies, biscuits, and Indian Pudding. She and Ted lived a full life together. They were able to enjoy camping trips with family and friends, and they were also able to travel across the country with their camper to visit western states. Ruth was a life-long member of the Congregational Church in Gray, and she was active in the church for many years. She enjoyed singing in the choir, cooking for church suppers, and she even resumed taking piano lessons when she retired from work.

Ruth was preceded in death by her father, John T. Doughty Sr., her mother, Louise C. Doughty; and her brother, John T. Doughty Jr.

She is survived by her husband Theodore R. Pierce; her brother, Paul C. Doughty, sister-in-law, Barbara Doughty; her daughters, Joanne McDonald and Jennifer Ziegra, her sons-in-law, Darrel McDonald and Jonathan Ziegra; her grandchildren, Crystal and her husband Joe, Craig and his fiancé Jess, Carolyn and her fiancé Abbey, and Heidi and her husband Kyle; her great-grandchildren; cousins; and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service for Ruth will be held later in the spring of 2021.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Ruth Pierce’s name to the American Brain Foundation to fund research for

Lewy Body Dementia.

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