讀報 Obituaries, ( Bucks County Herald, May 16, 2024)

I read two articles in the obituary section of the Bucks County Herald (May 16, 2024) that Barbara gave me。

1）(A) 
Ruth M.Beck
Ruth passed away at age 95, May 10th, surrounded by her family.
She was the daughter of William and Marthaherd. Her brothers served in the U.S. Army during W.W.II。
Ruth met her husband Jim through Church young groups, Ruth transitioned from being a Pianist to a Church Organist. They married in 1950. They started their lives together in at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Ruth was a Court Reporter for the U.S. Navy.
In 1956 Ruth and Jim moved to New Hope, Pennsylvania. Ruth attended Rider University and earned both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree. She joined Jim as a teacher at  New Hope Solebury High School and together they became the Business Education Department where they guided hundreds of students to learn business leadership skills. She was also the advisor for the school cheerleaders for many years.Ruth taught Business Ed at NH-S  until her retirement in 1993.
Ruth and Jim were locally renowned for playing Santa and Mrs. Clays for almost 50 years.
Ruth remained a devoted member of The Solebury United Methodist Church as well as the Church Organist from 1958-2020. She stepped down as the organist at the age of 91.
After Jim’s passing in 2002, Ruth and daughter Jame lived together for 22 years. Ruth’s hobbies were reading, playing her clavinova, going to the Jersey Shore, computer games, and watching mystery movies.....
Ruth is survived by her daughters Joanne of New Hope, Wendy of Richland,WA and Jamie of New Hope, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, her nieces and nephews, and the many her friends, colleagues, students, church family and neighbors.
Ruth has been the epitome of a family Matriarch. She lived a wonderful 95 years.
“ It’s not the length of time we remain in this present human sphere that is important, it is what we do with that time”
Interment will follow.

(B) Herman Lewis Gentsch, Jr. (Lew), age 97, passed away peacefully on April 6, 2024 in Groton, NY.
Born on May 21, 1926, Lew grew up in Philadelphia, PA. He graduated from Frankford High School in 1944 and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology. 
Following graduation, Lew worked on the family vegetable farm, and also served in the 707th Anti-Aircraft Battalion of Pennsylvania National Guard.
Lew enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1952 and served with 1141st Medical Service Squadron at Sampson Air Force Base, NY, performing epidemiology research. While at Sampson, he met Margaret “Peggy” Van Aken, they were married in 1953.
Lew was honorably discharged in 1956 and with Peggy returned to Philadelphia to help run the family farm. During this period, Lew and his father relocated the farm from Philadelphia to Richboro, Bucks County, where they started Gentsch’s Nursery. Both Lew and Peggy earned the certification of Pennsylvania Accredited Nurseryman, and they run the business together until 1984.During this time, Lew served the community in the Northampton Municipal Authority and in the Lion Club.
Following their retirement in 1984, Lew and Peggy moved to Ithaca, NY. Lew’s retirement hobbies included horticulture projects in his Ithaca yard, chatting it up with people on any subject and reading politics. Later in life he dedicated himself to loving care of Peggy before her death in March, 2021.
Lew is survived by his son and granddaughters. The family is especially grateful to the care providers at the Groton Community Health Center, whose loving attention made him last days comfortable.

2)My thinking:
The lives of the two elderly were perfect. During the war years, they have served the military and received university education. They do their favorite jobs and have rich hobbies. They have a wonderful family and participate in various social activities.
In contrast, in China, our work was uniformly allocated by the government back then. Too many political movements and class struggles.