Obituary for Ruth A. Fagerstrom-Underwood
Ruth Harriet (Amell) Fagerstrom-Underwood passed away on February 20 at the age of 101, in the Memory Care (Applewood) section of Keystone Place at Newbury Brook in Torrington, CT, where she was treated with love, kindness and respect for the past two years Born in Worcester, MA in 1920, she lived in Worcester/Holden until 1963 when she moved to Connecticut. Her retirement years were spent in Spring Hill, FL. She was a lifelong member of the Episcopal Church. She was married to Milton D. Fagerstrom for 53 years and after his death was married to Frederick J. Underwood until his death in 2006, merging two families with grace and love.
Ruth attended Woodbury College in Los Angeles, majoring in journalism. She graduated from Worcester's The Salter Secretarial School and loved her career. At the Heald Machine Company, during WW II, she wrote "The Listening Post", a monthly newsletter sent to 1200 Heald employees serving in the armed forces around the world who knew her as "Blondie". From 1959-1963 she assisted Mrs. Robert Hutchings Goddard, wife of America's rocket pioneer, in editing his papers resulting in a three-volume set and solidifying her love of space which culminated in an invitation from NASA to attend the space shuttle launch featuring John Glenn. In 1975 she became the Administrative Assistant at Oxford Academy in Westbrook, CT and later its Admissions Coordinator until her retirement at age 76. Writing was her hobby and she sold the first article she ever submitted, a short story, to an English Magazine for 8 shillings ($2.00). She never cashed the check. In Holden, she was the town reporter for the Holden Midweek News. In her later years she wrote and sold articles as a freelance writer including one about the Worcester tornado of 1953, and she published three books.
Ruth is predeceased by her son David Fagerstrom and son-in-law Robert Underwood. She leaves a daughter Susan (Randy) Kinkade of Litchfield, CT; a son Dana (Jane) Fagerstrom of Wiscasset, ME; a son-in-law Dennis (Bill Leone) Browning of Sarasota, FL; and her grandchildren: Samuel, Maxwell, and Clark Kinkade, Kate and Bess Fagerstrom. She also leaves Fred's children: the Rev. Carolyn Lambert of Kennebunk, ME; Larry (Deborah) Underwood of Granby, CT; daughter-in-law Catherine Underwood of Glenview, IL and grandchildren: Robert and Kristen Underwood, Christopher and Geoffrey Lambert, Christopher Underwood, Ashley Murphy, Andrew Underwood and six great-grandchildren.
Ruth attended Woodbury College in Los Angeles, majoring in journalism. She graduated from Worcester's The Salter Secretarial School and loved her career. At the Heald Machine Company, during WW II, she wrote "The Listening Post", a monthly newsletter sent to 1200 Heald employees serving in the armed forces around the world who knew her as "Blondie". From 1959-1963 she assisted Mrs. Robert Hutchings Goddard, wife of America's rocket pioneer, in editing his papers resulting in a three-volume set and solidifying her love of space which culminated in an invitation from NASA to attend the space shuttle launch featuring John Glenn. In 1975 she became the Administrative Assistant at Oxford Academy in Westbrook, CT and later its Admissions Coordinator until her retirement at age 76. Writing was her hobby and she sold the first article she ever submitted, a short story, to an English Magazine for 8 shillings ($2.00). She never cashed the check. In Holden, she was the town reporter for the Holden Midweek News. In her later years she wrote and sold articles as a freelance writer including one about the Worcester tornado of 1953, and she published three books.
Ruth is predeceased by her son David Fagerstrom and son-in-law Robert Underwood. She leaves a daughter Susan (Randy) Kinkade of Litchfield, CT; a son Dana (Jane) Fagerstrom of Wiscasset, ME; a son-in-law Dennis (Bill Leone) Browning of Sarasota, FL; and her grandchildren: Samuel, Maxwell, and Clark Kinkade, Kate and Bess Fagerstrom. She also leaves Fred's children: the Rev. Carolyn Lambert of Kennebunk, ME; Larry (Deborah) Underwood of Granby, CT; daughter-in-law Catherine Underwood of Glenview, IL and grandchildren: Robert and Kristen Underwood, Christopher and Geoffrey Lambert, Christopher Underwood, Ashley Murphy, Andrew Underwood and six great-grandchildren.