Obituary of Ruth Randby Kaelin
(b. 9 May 1930, d. 28 May 2023)
Ruth Randby Kaelin, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt and friend passed away on May 28th at home in Sea Cliff with her family.
Daughter of the late Margaret Haeberle and Halvor George Randby, Ruth was born in Flushing, New York and grew up in Little Neck, attending P.S. 94 and Bayside High School. She earned her B.A. and Master of Education from Hunter College. While she was a physical education and health teacher at Seaford High School she traveled to Europe for several summers, trips that she loved to recount. She taught in Colorado for a year and then returned home to work at Herricks Middle School. She was introduced to her husband James by a fellow Seaford teacher and friend and was married in 1961.
Ruth left her teaching position to raise her family, and she actively contributed to her community in a number of ways; as a member of the PTA, a Cub Scout den mother, Sea Cliff Softball League coach and an American Cancer Society volunteer. She returned to work once her children were grown, first in an office setting and then happily returning to the teaching profession to which she was so well suited, as a field hockey coach at North Shore Junior High School, as a resource room aide at Denton Avenue School, and later as a teaching assistant at Herricks Middle School. She loved teaching and coaching and touched countless students with her patience and kindness. She also was an avid sports fan, with a lifelong love of the Mets.
In her later years her hobby and greatest love became her grandchildren, lavishing each with carefully chosen books, activities, and gifts on every visit. Each birthday, athletic game, concert, and graduation was joyfully attended, and each was treated with great importance.
Ruth is survived by her husband James of Sea Cliff; her sons Thomas (Henriette) and Michael (Maureen), and daughter Margaret (Andrew), as well as her six grandchildren, Brendan (Sierra), Michael, Brian, George, Ava, and Annika, and her great-grandson Miller, her sisters-in-law Emily Randby and Emily (Lewis) Eastwood, as well as many loving nieces and nephews, and their spouses and children.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, June 13th at 11am at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 16 Glenwood Road, Glen Head, NY 11545.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Ruth’s memory to BrightFocus Foundation, in support of macular degeneration research.
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