Ruth Fordyce Banbury, 99 years old, of Eaglestone Lodge in Kamsack, Saskatchewan passed away peacefully in Pasqua Hospital, Regina, on Saturday, June 17, 2023.
Ruth was born to Annabella (nee Watt) and Alexander Fordyce on February 29, 1924 in Assiniboia, Saskatchewan. She was a leap-year baby, so she was just a few months short of her 25th 'birthday'. However, every year she received many birthday greetings, leap year or not.
As a young adult Ruth moved to Wolseley, Saskatchewan to take a job as a bank clerk and this is where she married William (Bill) Wilson. They had two children while in Wolseley – Robert Alexander and Catherine Ann – and then moved to Kamsack where the 'twins' – William Bruce and Barbara Ruth – were born. Bill purchased and ran Wilson's Funeral Home in Kamsack for several years. He died tragically in an airplane crash in 1963 and Ruth was left a widow, raising four children on her own. She ran the Funeral Home for several years and then sold it and worked as a receptionist at the Kamsack Hospital for many years. In 1982 she married H.C. (Pete) Banbury and moved to Wolseley. Ruth and Pete enjoyed many years as 'snowbirds' making regular winter trips to Arizona. Pete died in 2001 and Ruth was left a widow again. She moved back to Kamsack in 2009 where she lived for several years in Davies Towers, surrounded by old friends. In 2017 she moved to Eaglestone Lodge where she was again surrounded by friends and old neighbours from 3rd Street.
She is survived by all four of her children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by husband Bill in 1963, husband Pete in 2001, and grandson Jeffrey Douglas Ross Brown in 2006. There will be no funeral as per her wishes and her ashes will be interred in the Wolseley Cemetery next to Bill in a private ceremony.