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Posted May 28, 2026 | 4:41 PM
Ruth Mae Wylie (Sutton) passed away peacefully in her sleep on 2026-05-27 at Kingston General Hospital. She was 96 years old.
She was predeceased by her beloved husband of over sixty years, Robert (Bob). Loving mother to R, Stephen (Nicole) and Scott (Simone). Dear grandmother to Brock, Aidan, Quinn, Elise, and Linden.
Ruth was born in Owen Sound, Ontario at the beginning of the Great Depression; the fourth and final Sutton daughter. She grew up in relative comfort, running to the corner store for penny candy (and like her sister Helen, eating it all at once), listening to and reciting radio dramas with flair (“Grand Central Station, cross-roads of a million private lives, a gigantic stage on which are played a thousand dramas daily” and “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!”), and learning every species of tree in Ontario forests (verbal tests conducted during family walks in the forest by her father who worked in the lumber industry). When Ruth was seventeen, her father died; Ruth and her mother moved to Toronto, Ontario and Ruth worked various jobs including Switchboard Operator (where cords were plugged into switch jacks to connect telephone calls…before automation and direct dialing was a thing).
Ruth met Bob in Toronto one Sunday afternoon after her sister Margaret invited him over for Sunday lunch. Ruth and Bob were married in 1958 and moved to Ottawa where he attended teacher’s college. During this time, Ruth worked in the Gerhard Herzberg laboratory at the National Research Council (NRC) in Ottawa. They later moved to Smiths Falls (where Stephen was born), Deep River (where Scott was born on her birthday…she joked that she never quite forgave him for that), and Belleville. For many years Ruth stayed at home looking after her sons, joking that she was a “domestic drudge” while also working at completing her Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) at Queen’s University. She accomplished her goal of graduating before Stephen started university. Ruth then went on to work for many years as a Court Clerk in Belleville.
Ruth was a stoic person with a deadpan sense of humour who liked to travel and experience different things. While she sometimes appeared to follow Bob on different adventures, she was actually co-leading beside him…he often had the vision for something, but she was the anchor that held the vision together. She and Bob had many trips camping in tents and trailers, hiking, sailing, driving, travelling by rail, and occasionally flying in planes (when Bob could handle it). She regularly volunteered to help others (memorably with her friend Pat Pamenter teaching people in the community how to cook).
Ruth enjoyed cooking (she made great butter tarts among many other things), sailing (privately racing against every other boat on the water without them knowing it), and reading books (most frequently ‘whodunits’). As she grew older and became tired of things, she stopped doing them…no more sailing, no more cooking, no more reading. When she was done cooking, she and Bob moved into a retirement home in Kingston. One thing she never got tired of was holding Bob’s hand, and she would sit for hours with him, holding his hand, when he was in long term care.
If you wish, a donation may be made to Parkdale Baptist Church, Belleville, ON in Ruth’s name.
Ruth’s Funeral Service will be held at Steele Funeral Home, 30 Moira Street West, Belleville, on Tuesday June 2nd, 2026, at 11:00a.m., with visitation prior from 10:00 a.m. until time of service. Interment Elmwood Cemetery, Corbyville.