Naples, Florida – Ruth M. Delaney 90, died Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at Avow Hospice in Naples, Florida.

She was born in the Bronx, New York on June 7, 1926, the daughter of Edward and Cecelia (Kleinegger) Skiber.

She eloped when she was just 17 and married Robert (Bob) Delaney in Columbia, South Carolina on June 16, 1943, stating that she was 19 on the marriage license. They were married for 65 years when Bob passed in 2008. She was also preceded in death by her brother Edward in 1987.

Ruth and Bob resided in Uniondale NY from 1945 until 1986 where she worked with Bob building the family business, Delaney Decorators. She was an excellent seamstress and besides her professional work, made many beautiful dresses for her daughters and enjoyed all sorts of needlework. Her quilts were displayed at the annual quilt show at the Billings Museum in Woodstock and she won many awards for her beautiful and creative quilt designs.
Ruth loved Vermont and moved to Bethel to retire in 1986 to live year 'round in the Delaney Chalet on Rt 12. In 2007 she moved to Wilder to be closer to her husband, who was in Genesis in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Skiing was her life-long passion and she could often be found at Suicide Six skiing with her friends until late in her 80's. Ruth was an outstanding baker and shared her famous Christmas cookies generously with family and friends. She was a member of the Progressive Club, the Delectable Mountain Quilters, Free Lance singers, and the Woodstock Garden Club. She enjoyed gardening and feeding the songbirds and hummingbirds. Her vitality and her active engagement with all that interested her inspired everyone who knew her to imitate such a great "can-do" spirit.

She enjoyed her grandchildren and loved watching them learn to ski under her patient tutelage at Suicide Six.

She is survived by four loving children and their spouses, Cecilia and Michael Bach, Roberta and John DeMarie, Kenneth and Patricia Delaney, and Thomas and Dina Delaney; 8 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren, all of whom have quilts that she made so they can treasure her memory.

A funeral mass will be held on Friday, June 2, 2017 at St John XXIII Catholic Church, 13060 Palomino Lane, Fort Myers, Florida 33912.

A graveside service will be held at Riverside Cemetery in Woodstock, Vermont on Wednesday, June 7, 2017 at 11:00 am.

We will celebrate the long and beautiful life of a mother, dearly loved by her family, on what would have been her 91st birthday.

Memorial contributions may be made to Avow Hospice, 1095 Whippoorwill Lane, Naples, Florida 34105 or any charity of your choice.