Ruth E. Ratti

Ruth Elaine (Forry) Ratti of Hanover, Pennsylvania, died December 4, 2016—just 17 days short of her 92nd birthday—in her Cottage at Homewood at Plum Creek, where she has resided since 2004.

She was born on Sunday, December 21, 1924 in York, PA to the late Edward E. and Miriam (Neeff) Forry, and was raised by her mother and step-father, Robert K. Zortman. She was the widow of A. Louis Ratti who died in 1981, and was also preceded in death by a son, John Louis Ratti in 1963, and her sister, Mary Ellen Wick in 2010.

Ruth was graduated from William Penn Senior High School, York, PA, and received her R.N. degree in 1946 from Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing in Philadelphia, PA. She began her nursing career at Hanover General Hospital in 1964, eventually becoming a Nursing Supervisor and retiring from nursing administration in 1988. Not content with being idle in retirement, she served the Parish of St. Joseph in Hanover in numerous volunteer capacities and as part-time secretary in the Parish office. Her spare time was spent in expressions of her desire to help others, including as a Special Minister of the Eucharist, knitting for the Parish Council of Catholic Women’s Prayer Shawl Ministry, and lending comfort and assistance to whomever and wherever she saw a need.

A woman of faith from childhood, Ruth converted to Catholicism in 1953, and joined the St. Conrad Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order in 1967. A critical thread in the fabric of the St. Conrad Fraternity, she served as a prior Minister Prefect and was the fraternity’s longest professed member at the time of her death.

She is survived by a daughter, Jeanne (Robert) Brown; a son James (Ellen) Ratti; and a daughter Joan (Kate Felix) Fry. Also surviving her are four grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, five great-great-grandchildren and two nieces.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 am on Friday, December 9, 2016 at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 5055 Grandview Road, Hanover. Burial will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery. The family will receive friends at viewings to be held from 6 to 8 pm Thursday at Panebaker Funeral Home & Cremation Care Center, Inc., 311 Broadway, Hanover and one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday. A Franciscan Wake Service will be held at 8 pm Thursday at the funeral home.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Conrad Fraternity, OFS, ℅ Jeff Topper, 11 Ivy Circle, Hanover, PA 17331-9111; or to St. Joseph Church, 5055 Grandview Road, Hanover, PA 17331-7826.