Ruth J. Rainer, 97, of Elverson, a retired psychologist, psychological well being educator, world traveler, and volunteer, died Wednesday, December 14, of coronary heart failure at Watermark within the Bellingham retirement neighborhood in West Chester.
A neighborhood adventurer filled with vitality and recommendation, Ms. Rayner has practiced psychology in Paoli and elsewhere for greater than three many years and has been the Counseling and Training Coordinator for what’s now the Chester County Division of Psychological Well being, Mental and Developmental Disabilities.
She grew to become a world traveler, particularly after the dying of her second husband in 1994, and spent months yearly for many years in her “residence away from residence” in Venice, Italy. She accompanied her kids and grandchildren on unforgettable holidays to England, Wales, Scotland, Greece, Norway and Japan and made it some extent to fulfill new individuals and immerse themselves in no matter tradition she skilled.
“She was an incredible information,” mentioned her son, Dick.
She was a volunteer with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Philadelphia Orchestra, hosted recitals for the well-known conductor Eugene Ormandy and his musicians, and welcomed kids from New York’s Contemporary Air Fund to her residence in Gladwin virtually each summer season for years.
A pal mentioned in greeting. Her son, Douglas, mentioned, “I might go on endlessly about the way it affected my life and so many others.”
Ms. Rainer earned bachelor’s and grasp’s levels in psychology from the Universities of Delaware and Hartford within the Nineteen Seventies, opened her personal observe within the Eighties, and taught psychological well being lessons on stress, concern, rejection, and different subjects within the Nineties within the South. Chester County Medical Centre, now Penn County Drugs, South Chester.
In 1988, Ms. Rayner was interviewed by The Inquirer at a psychological well being data occasion at Coatesville Space Excessive Faculty that coincided with that 12 months’s Psychological Sickness Consciousness Week. She mentioned that teenagers typically protected mates by hiding their issues and that it was essential for them to say, “I really like you a lot to maintain a secret that would kill you.”
She obtained a nursing diploma from the College of Pennsylvania in 1943, and later targeted her psychology observe on divorce, suicide, and household trauma. Her household mentioned in a greeting.
She celebrated her eightieth birthday with a visit all over the world on the Queen Elizabeth 2, rode a camel in Egypt, and suggested shoppers till a number of years in the past. Her household famous her “curiosity and love of studying”.
Born October 28, 1925, in Higher Lehigh, Pennsylvania, Ruth Janice Holland attended a one-room faculty by way of eighth grade, graduated from Hazelton Excessive Faculty in 1943, and attended each nursing assembly in Pennsylvania till nobody else had in a number of years.
met Francis J. Rabiolo In Penn, they married in 1947 and adjusted their identify to Rainer in 1954 once they shaped Rainer & Co. for accounting. They lived in Drexel Hill, Ardmore, Bryn Mawr, and Gladwin, and had sons Brad, Dick, and Douglas, and daughters Diane, Janice, and Nancy.
After divorcing in 1973, she married Dietmar Schmidtke in 1989. Her husband, ex-husband, and son Brad died earlier.
Eclectic and energetic, Mrs. Rayner loved gardening, cooking, tenting, and studying. She was lively at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Honey Brook, visited a close-by swimming pool virtually daily for years, and took lessons for adults in every kind of topics at a neighborhood school.
She went to craft reveals, traveled to Colorado for a 12 months, and hosted household gatherings in her 90s. A pal described her as a “cherished reminiscence” and a “lovely soul” in A.J greeting.
She collected hats, ate strawberries and whipped cream straight from the can, bought into fights with virtually anybody wherever, and her colourful tales and vigorous dialog made her numerous mates. “She was at residence with anybody she met,” her daughter Janice mentioned. “It was nice as a result of she lived the life she wished to reside.”
“She was an attention-grabbing, advanced and great individual,” mentioned her granddaughter Jessica Sharp.
Along with her kids and a granddaughter, Mrs. Rayner is survived by 9 different grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, a sister, and different kinfolk.
The visitation with the household is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 3, on the Chapel at St. Mary of Windfall Middle, 227 Isabella Method, Elverson, PA. 19520. Will probably be adopted by a memorial service at 11 a.m. and a reception.
Donations could also be made in her identify to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church1040 Chestnut Tree Highway, Honey Brook, Pa. 19344.