BEVERLY: Ruth E. (Egan) Radcliff, 83, died Thursday, February 6, 2014 in the Rosewood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, W. Peabody following a brief illness. She was the wife of the late James T. Radcliff who died in 2002.
Born in Beverly on November 28, 1930, she was the daughter of the late Edward H. and Esther D. (Perkins) Egan. Ruth was a graduate of Beverly High School class of 1948. A U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean War, she was honorably discharged in 1953. It was in the Navy that she met the love of her life, James T. Radcliff. After they were married they settled in Akron, Ohio, where they raised their family until 1971, when they moved back to Beverly. She had resided in Beverly for many years before moving to Topsfield in 1988 and returned to Beverly in 2004.
Ruth was employed at GTE Sylvania in Danvers for many years before retiring in 1991. She had also once worked for the New England Telephone Company for several years.
She loved swimming and camping and enjoyed baking and working in her garden. She also loved dogs with all her heart and treated them as members of her family. She especially loved to spend time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She and her husband wintered in St. Petersburg, Florida for many years. Ruth was a fifty year member of the A. P. Gardner Post #194, American Legion in Hamilton. Ruth’s family would like to thank the staff at Rosewood Nursing Home for all the loving care they provided for her.
She is survived by two daughters, Kimberly J. Lauranzano and her husband, James “Zack” of Beverly and Karen Nicholson Amend of Pinellas Park, FL; one son and two daughters-in-law, Timothy E. Radcliff and his wife, Judith (DeSantis) of Wenham and Jeannette (Sheaff) Radcliff of Johnstown, OH; eleven grandchildren, Benjamin Lauranzano and his wife, Jillian, Jamie Lee Godjikian and her husband, Robert, Nathan Lauranzano, Shane Radcliff and his wife, Courtney, Garrett Radcliff, Jason Nicholson and his wife, Kristin, Sean Nicholson, Mikayla Amend, Christopher Radcliff and his companion, Kristina Buxton, Kyle Radcliff and his wife, Raquel and Anita Pratt and her husband, Michael; ten great-grandchildren, Lucy and Bodin Lauranzano, Isabel and Adeline Godjikian, Noah and Alexis Pratt, Avery and Nolan Radcliff and Tabitha and Emma Radcliff; one brother-in-law, Robert Radcliff and his wife, Terry; two sisters-in-law, Barbara Egan and June Radcliff; her former sons-in-law, Thom Amend and James “T.J.” Nicholson as well as many loving nieces and nephews. She was also predeceased by her son, James D. Radcliff, four sisters, Nancy O’Reilly, Joanne Pomroy, Priscilla Killam and Jane Burke and three brothers, Paul, Edward and Jack Egan.
Her funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday in St. Mary Star of the Sea Church, 253 Cabot St., Beverly at 10 a.m. Visiting hours will be held on Tuesday in the Grondin Funeral Home, 376 Cabot St., Beverly from 5 – 8 p.m. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to Sweet Paws Rescue, 182 Southern Ave., Essex, MA 01929 www.sweetpawsrescue.org. Interment will be held in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Beverly.