Dera Kinsey-Ruegg M.D. of Fox Hill Village Westwood died on Sunday August 3 at the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital Needham Campus. She was 98 years old. By any measure, Dr. Kinsey-Ruegg had a long, distinguished career as a cardiologist. But her achievements are even more impressive given how few women were in the medical profession at the time that Dr. Kinsey-Ruegg began her career. Born in Hamilton Texas, Dr. Kinsey-Ruegg graduated from Baylor University School Of Medicine in 1934. Dr. Kinsey-Ruegg moved to Boston where she did a rotating internship at New England Hospital for Women and Children for one year. After interning for six months in contagious diseases and six months in tuberculosis at the Belmont Hospital in Worcester, Dr. Kinsey-Ruegg became the Chief Resident at New England Hospital in 1936. In 1937 she became only the second female resident in Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. As a resident in Medicine at MGH, Dr, Kinsey-Ruegg trained under legendary cardiologist Paul Dudley White, her life long mentor. Dr. White, a Boston cardiologist, was one of six physicians to found the American Heart Association in 1924. Dr. Kinsey-Ruegg later received a NIH grant for $100,000 to study hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Her subsequent career centered on the treatment and study of hypertension. In 1946, she joined the faculty of University Hospital where she remained active until 1976 and held teaching appointments at Boston University School of Medicine. In 1969, Dr. Kinsey-Ruegg married Ernest Ruegg, President and founder of the Metropolitan Travel Service of Boston. She shared Ernest’s passion for travel and they took frequent trips from Egypt to Australia. Her favorite destination, however, was Switzerland, where Ernest was born. The beloved wife of the late Ernest W. Ruegg, she leaves her step daughter Barbara L. Welch of Scarborough NY and Sheldon SC, her granddaughter Margaret Alexandra Bathe and her husband Kir of Rye NY, her great granddaughter Madeline Jordan Bayha and the many patients, colleagues and friends whose lives she touched and enriched. A Memorial service will be held at the First Parish in Weston, 349 Boston Post Road on Thursday August 7 at 10 AM. Interment will be private. In lieu of flowers donations in Dera’s name may be made to the American Heart Association, 20 Speen Street Framingham MA 01701.