WATERVILLE – Ruth Beane Davis, 53 of Waterville, Maine, passed away on June 19, 2009, at Maine General Hospital following a year-long battle with colon cancer.
She was born in Waterville on June 20, 1955, daughter of Cyrus W. Davis and Katharine (Glazier) Davis Stevens. Ruthy led an accomplished life. She graduated from Messalonskee High School in 1973 where she graduated at the top of her class and was a standout athlete in track, basketball, and softball. She obtained her BS degree in nursing from the University of Southern Maine in 1978. In 1987 she received her Master of Science degree in Psychiatric Nursing from Boston University.
Ruth began her career at Regional Memorial Hospital in Brunswick, and then worked as a Public Health Nurse for the city of Portland and New England Rehabilitation Hospital during the 1980s. During the early 1990s she moved to Farmington to be near her family and was the Director of Behavioral Health Services at Franklin Memorial Hospital where she also had a private psychiatric practice.
After her mother’s passing she moved to the Waterville area where she was a hospice nurse and a psychiatric nurse supervisor for Health Reach Home Care and Kennebec Behavioral Services for many years. She had recently been employed by Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta where she was a hospital supervisor. She was certified by the American Nurses Association as a Clinical Specialist in adult mental health nursing. For several years she was a Captain and nurse in the Army Medical Corps. Ruthy was a life long member of the United Baptist Church of Oakland.
She spoke with great fondness of the staff at Riverview Psychiatric Center and of how accommodating and compassionate they were to her and her husband when she became ill. Her employment there was most special because this was where she met her soul mate and husband, Mark E. Soisson Sr. This was Ruthy’s first marriage and was what made her the happiest. Mark came into her life a couple of weeks before her discovery of her cancer. Even though they both knew the implications of the health battle that was before them, they felt that their partnership was destined.
With the time they had together between chemotherapy and doctor visits, they enjoyed running, biking, hiking, walking their dogs, and visits with family. They were to have celebrated their first year wedding anniversary on July 21.
Ruthy was multi-talented and had many interests. She enjoyed art and painted many beautiful scenes of nature and birds for her family. She could identify dozens of birds and their calls. She was a voracious reader with her favorites being biographies, medical stories, and spiritual books. Another passion Ruthy had was her love and appreciation of music; she enjoyed playing the piano. She had an incredible gift as a writer and was in the process of writing her first book, My Mother’s Piano. She was an award-winning author with her story titled, “Different Gifts, Same Spirit” which examined real life mystical/spiritual events and was published in the nationally distributed periodical, Journal of Exceptional Human Experiences.
She was a contributor to a published doctoral dissertation which received the Sidney M. Journal Award, the highest recognition for a dissertation in the humanistic division of the American Psychological Association. Ruthy was a fellow of the American Society of Psychical Research and the International society for Near Death Studies and a member of Exceptional Human Experience Network. She was also a contributor to nursing textbook, Rural Nursing.
Ruthy was an exercise enthusiast and a runner all her life, having completed many races and marathons. For several years she competed in body building and was always a member of a local weightlifting gym wherever she resided. She loved flower gardening, playing with color combinations, beach glass and sea shells, crewel work, and decorating.
Ruthy’s highest calling above all else was her exceptional love and compassion for animals. Throughout her entire life she was an advocate for them and had a unique instinct for understanding their needs. We will all remember her generous heart and the intuitive and compassionate manner she had with people and animals. One of her favorite quotations was by Emily Dickinson, “To live is so startling that it leaves little time for anything else.”
She is survived by her husband Mark and her step children, Mark Soisson Jr. of Jackson, ME, and Violet Soisson of Wilmington, NC; sister Rachel Akins and husband Col. Robert E. Akins of Raymond, ME and her two children William M. Fisher Jr. and wife Allison Fisher of Newburyport, MA and Bryan D. Fisher and wife Meredith Fisher of Raymond, NH; brother, Cyrus W. Davis and wife Kathy Wehmeir-Davis of Bedford, MA and his children, Bradley P. Davis, Benjamin P. Davis, and Andrew P. Davis, all of Bedford MA ; sister, Rebecca Webster and husband John Lucas of Wilton, ME and her children Ashley (Webster) Nau and husband Adam Nau of Durham, NC and Alyson Webster of Wilton, ME. She had a special fondness for her dear family friends, Dorothy and Stan Merrill of Oakland, ME.
She is predeceased by her parents named above.
She would like special recognition of her former and present pets; dogs Gabriel, Pristina, Kaytie, and Comet and cat Laura.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 27 at the United Baptist Church on 47 Church St. in Oakland ME. Everyone is invited to attend a celebration of her life in the church vestry following the service.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Humane Society of Waterville 100 Webb Road, Waterville, ME 04901 or the United Baptist Church of Oakland 47 Church Street, Oakland, ME 09463.
