Ruth E. Dunfey

Rye Beach - Ruth Elaine (Thomas) Dunfey, of Rye Beach, New Hampshire, died on September 14, 2022, age 95. She was born August 1, 1927 in Dracut, Massachusetts, the second of six children of Natalie (Reed) and Merrill Thomas. Ruth grew up in Dracut and attended local schools, graduating from Dracut High School in 1945. During her teenage years she assembled masks for the military after school, and she recalled with a smile that she often slipped in notes for the soldiers. After graduation, she worked as an operator for the telephone company in Hyannis, MA and traveled alone to visit her sister Loyce and brother-in-law Harvey, who were stationed in France. In 1956 she married William L. (Bud) Dunfey, a World War Two Marine veteran and a graduate of UNH on the GI Bill, in Hampton, New Hampshire, where they made their first home and welcomed their only child, Julie. In 1968 the family built a house on the former 10th hole of Abenaqui golf course in Rye Beach, where Ruth lived for 52 years. Ruth loved to learn new sports and to travel with Bud. In the early 1960s they began to ski: first locally at the Big A (Mount Agamenticus) overlooking the ocean in Maine, then annually at Wildcat in the White Mountains. They traveled to Beirut, Honolulu, and Tokyo as a young couple and later joined other families on boisterous, chartered ski trips to Zermatt. As Bud’s family hotel business prospered in the 1970s, they built a second home in Waterville Valley. In both Rye Beach and Waterville Valley they enjoyed playing their scrappy brand of mixed doubles in round robins and tournaments and made lifelong friends on the courts and ski trails. Neighbors in Rye Beach reveled at their Christmas caroling parties- facilitated by a rented school bus- and Julie’s college friends enjoyed Ruth’s baked scrod dinners and Bud’s short-order breakfasts in Waterville Valley. Ruth began her college career at the University of New Hampshire in 1972, one or two courses at a time, and earned her B.A. in 1983. She reminisced often about her summer on UNH’s Cambridge University program, where she studied history, literature, and theater. Bud joined her for the last week of the program and she was a proud tour guide to all she had seen and learned. As a couple they traveled with the board and staff of The World Paper to China, Argentina, and Venezuela; Bermuda became a favorite vacation destination, and they returned to France three times on bicycle tours. Ruth did not travel again after Bud died in 1991. She would never, she stated adamantly, have as wonderful a companion in life as he had been. Her home on the seacoast -she loved walking to the beach and the post office- and her three grandchildren became her focus. Perhaps because of the multiple losses she suffered in her childbearing years, she took an extra measure of joy in being a grandmother. She loved helping to orchestrate family holidays, arriving with a trunk full of presents, her lasagna for Christmas Eve dinner, and desserts from Ceres Bakery. Always up at 5:30 or earlier, she had a front row seat with her Dunkin Donuts coffee when her grandchildren came tumbling down the stairs on Christmas morning. The family would like to thank Lynn Connolly, Ruth’s faithful friend these last few years; Karin Finnigan, her supportive neighbor; her niece Michele Gagnon, who was always there when needed; the dining room staff at Abenaqui, who treated Ruth with dignity and respect; and the staff at Cornerstone and The Village at WRJ, who cared for her these last two and a half years. She is survived by her daughter, Julie Dunfey, her grandchildren Hayley, Aidan, and Julia (JJ), her brother Richard, and several nieces and nephews. Ruth will be buried next to Bud in the Rye town cemetery. There will be a private memorial service at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to the Trout Scholars Fund at the University of New Hampshire by clicking here or checks to: UNH Foundation, 15 Strafford Ave, Durham, NH 03824. The scholarship supports study abroad for NH students.

Ruth E. Dunfey

August 1, 1927 - September 14, 2022