Obituary of Ruth R Frost

Ruth Buck Roberts Frost, 95, Basking Ridge Native Ruth Frost died quietly and peacefully in her room at Fellowship Village, Liberty Corner on December 29, 2014 with her family all around her. Ruth PerLee Buck was born in Baltimore, MD on September 30, 1919 to PerLee Buck and Bessie Leticia Stone Buck. Unfortunately, she never knew her father as he died of pneumonia before she was born. Her mother moved to Basking Ridge, NJ to be with her sisters and raise her daughter. In 1923 she married widower Charles L. Roberts. Mr. Roberts was President of the Bernardsville National Bank (today Wells Fargo on the corner of Claremont Road and Rt. 202 in Bernardsville) and they lived in the house which today serves as a Montessori school, known as Coffee House Corner. In 1925 Charles Roberts adopted Ruth. She attended the Basking Ridge grammar school, the property today occupied by the Basking Ridge Library. Her oldest granddaughter, local artist and muralist Caren Frost Olmsted and her family, now reside in a home the at the back of that property. The Roberts family traveled widely including a trip to Israel and Egypt when Ruth was 8 years old and she got to ride a camel. Mr. Roberts died in 1932 and mother and daughter moved into a home at 32 Rankin Avenue. One trip to Europe was cut short in August 1939 as Ruth and her mother quickly left Paris and caught a British cruise ship on Sept. 1st, the day Hitler invaded Poland. Forty-eight hours after the ship departed, Britain declared war on Germany and the ship zig-zagged toward NYC with port holes painted over and everything painted either dark gray or blue by the crew as they sailed. The 441 passengers and $17.5 million in gold reserves arrived safely on Sept 12th despite reports of nine U-boats in the area. Ruth graduated from the Kent Place School in 1937 and from Swarthmore College in 1941. She met George Purves (Jack) Frost in 1936 while attending the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church where they were married on October 9, 1943. They lived in Mary Esther, FL while Mr. Frost served in the Army Air Corps at Eglin Air Force Base during WW II. At the end the war they returned to Basking Ridge, living with her mother until the young couple purchased a home on Sand Spring Road in New Vernon where they raised a family of 3 sons and a daughter. While her husband worked in New York City and traveled frequently for his job, Ruth gracefully raised her four children. The couple served as leaders in the First Presbyterian Church of New Vernon. In 1973 Mr. Frost's job required a move to San Francisco, CA where they resided in Mill Valley. The couple was very active in the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Tiburon where Ruth served as a Deacon and Elder and in numerous local ministries. After Mr. Frost retired they traveled with the People to People Program to China and Russia and separately to numerous other European and Far Eastern countries. Her husband predeceased her in 1992, and Ruth moved to Tiburon where she lived until 2001 when she moved to Fellowship Village in Liberty Corner, NJ to be near her children and grandchildren. When Ruth moved to Fellowship Village her childhood friend Millie Van Dyke encouraged her to search her family history in order to join the Daughters of the American Revolution. Ruth was subsequently inducted into the Basking Ridge Chapter of the DAR in Feb 2006. Ruth is survived by her four children, John (Jack) and Bonnie Frost of Bernardsville, Sarah (Sally) and Jeffrey Vosburgh of Darien, CT, Charles (Chip) and Jeanne Frost of Morris Plains, and William and Quiana Grace Frost of Sebastopol, CA, thirteen grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren. A service for family and friends to celebrate Ruth's life will be held at the Liberty Corner Church on Saturday, January 17, 2015 at 11 a.m. with a luncheon to follow in the church's fellowship hall. In lieu of flowers, please make gifts to: Homeless Solutions, 6 Dumont Place, Morristown, NJ 07960; the Liberty Corner Church Ministry Fund, 45 Church St., Liberty Corner, NJ 07938; or to the Frost Memorial Garden Fund c/o Westminster Presbyterian Church, 240 Tiburon Blvd., Tiburon, CA 94920. For further information please contact Gallaway and Crane Funeral Home at 908-766-0250, or to light an online condolence candle please visit our website at www.gcfuneralhome.com