Anne Marie Ruby

Anne Marie Ruby passed away peacefully on Monday morning, August 3, 2021. She was born July 22, 1931, in Baltimore to John Joseph Murphy and Katherine Kelly who predeceased her.

Anne Marie grew up in Baltimore and attended Mount Saint Agnes High School. After graduating from secretarial school, she worked as a legal secretary before meeting the love of her life, Armand Ruby Jr., who fell in love with the lovely red-haired young woman with the winsome smile and sunny disposition. Anne Marie loved to tell the story of meeting Armand at the USO in Baltimore, and their courtship while he was serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. They were married on September 4, 1954, soon after his service was completed, and moved to Worcester, MA. There Armand attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute on the GI Bill and Anne Marie birthed and cared for their first three children during Armand’s college years, earning Anne Marie a PHT (Putting Hubby Through!) degree.

Anne Marie was resourceful and enterprising, and her enthusiasm was contagious. She turned a free, second-hand piano into a thriving piano studio for neighborhood children, filling the house with music and fun. With the proceeds from her piano teaching business, every summer the family rented a cottage for a two-week vacation on a lake or at the ocean. Loving music as she did, and being outgoing by nature, joining the local church musical theatre group was a natural next step, and she joyfully sang and danced her way through many musical performances. She shared her love of music with her children and grandchildren, who will treasure the memories of fun times spent gathered around the piano in song.

As her children began entering their teenage years, Anne Marie returned to school herself to pursue a career in court reporting. For many years Anne Marie worked in the courts, first in Enfield, CT and then on the Eastern Shore, near Ocean City, MD, where she loved to swim in the ocean and bike-ride with her friends. When she retired, having helped support her five children through their college degrees, Anne Marie took on the challenge of attending college full time, enrolling at Salisbury University, where as a grandmother among young adults she was well loved and celebrated by her fellow students. She majored in Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies, graduating Summa Cum Laude.

Later in life, Anne Marie and Armand moved back to New England and enjoyed years of musical and other activities at Linden Ponds in Hingham, MA, where her warm, friendly nature endeared her to all – residents and staff members alike. Eventually Anne Marie traded in her beloved piano for the more gentle sounds of the harp, once again taking up something brand new and challenging, allowing her to continue to pursue her love of music.

Anne Marie was dearly beloved by her family and friends, who were everything to Anne Marie. Her warmth, her kind words, her smile, her joyful appreciation of life, her optimistic outlook, and her love will be dearly missed by her husband of 66 years, Armand Jr., her children, Armand III (Cheryl), Kathleen (Dan), Eric (April), Eileen (Eric), John (Jeannette), 10 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren, her sister, Patricia Gonnerman (Charles), nieces, nephews and friends. The world is a better place for having known Anne Marie.

A funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 am Wednesday, August 18 at St. Albert the Great Catholic Church, Weymouth, MA. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to The Greater Boston Food Bank.