Ruth Ann Wolfe of Groveland, FL passed away Tuesday, August 29th at Lake Nona VA Hospice in Orlando.  Born August 14th, 1939 in Accident, MD to Mary Maude (Bowser) and Clarence Elmer Thornburg.

Ruth Ann spent her childhood in Connellsville, Pa as the youngest of three children.  Not long after graduating from high school, she decided she wasn't ready to settle down and get married like other women did in that time. She noticed her older cousins and older brother were in the military and they got to do all sorts of exciting things and travel around the world, so she wanted to do the same thing.  Without telling her parents, she enlisted in the Army.   When she told her parents what she had done, her father knew it was no use trying to talk her out of it. While in the Army she met her husband, Clyde who was also in the Army. Clyde was stationed in Laos during the early part of the Vietnam War and Ruth was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany.  While Clyde didn't like to talk much about his time in Laos, Ruth enjoyed telling her kids about her adventures and the friends she made.  Ask her kids about the time she and a friend were attacked by an old lady and her baguette. Or the story that was submitted to Reader's Digest Humor in Uniform. Or the undercover "French tractor salesman" who spoke no French and knew nothing about tractors.

After leaving the Army, they settled in Connellsville, Pa and raised their two children (Amanda and Andrew) on a small farm in the mountains. They moved to Central Florida in the mid-1980s where Ruth Ann worked in nursing homes and then home health care for over 20 years.  After retiring she moved in with her daughter where she spent her final years and helped raise her youngest granddaughter, Natalya. She loved having Natalya's friends come over and considered them her grandchildren too.  She was quite happy to feed them bagelwiches as soon as they walked in the door and loved to hear what was going on in their lives.

Ruth Ann loved to brag about all her children and grandchildren.  She loved to tell even complete strangers that at one point all five of her girls were in college at the same time and the oldest granddaughter was studying to become a doctor.

Some of her other hobbies included reading, sewing, arguing with the Alexa, fussing with her dog, and repeatedly attempting not to kill her outdoor plants.

Ruth Ann is survived by older brother Herman, stepson Leon (Robin), son Andrew, and daughter Amanda.  Two granddaughters, Leana (Buddy) and Natalya (Joel) two great granddaughters, Briana and Madison (Hayden), granddog Poppi, nieces Sondra, Cheryl, Carolyn, and nephew Bill. Bonus grandchildren Haley, Lauren, Alexis, and Raul.   In addition to her parents, she is predeceased by her husband Clyde, sister Emma Jean, nephews David, John, and Mark, Sisters in law Elouise and Thelma and brothers in law Ivan and Lawrence.

She will be buried later on Wolfe Mountain next to her husband.

A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, September 2, 2023, from 1pm until 3pm at Becker Funeral Home.

Military Honors will be performed at 2pm.

Ruth Ann requests that everyone wear bright colors to her Celebration of Life.

The family would like to thank the staff at the Lake Nona VA CLC Hospice for taking care of our feisty determined but not stubborn (she always insisted) mother in her final days.  They helped make a difficult time easier to bear and the family is grateful they were there for her when cancer took her away from us.