Ruth Moser

Ruth Ann (nee Merwin) Moser, age 96, of Parchment, Michigan, passed away on April 1, 2026, in StoryPoint Granger, near South Bend, Indiana, where she moved in February 2025.

The daughter of Rev. William S. and Anna (Jaynes) Merwin, she was born on October 11, 1929, in New York City. Ruth grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1946 from Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School in nearby Kingston. She graduated from Grove City College (Pennsylvania) in 1950, with a double major in Spanish and French, and a double minor in English and Speech. She later earned a master's degree in Spanish from Western Michigan University.

In September 1971, Ruth was instrumental in creating the Spanish Department at Parchment High School, where she taught for 20 years, during which time she touched the lives of numerous students and earned several awards, including Michigan Foreign Language Teacher of the Year. She then taught Spanish for 10 years at Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College. She loved teaching Spanish and organized several trips to Spain for her high school students and adults.

Ruth married Hugh J. Moser, also a Grove City College graduate, in September 1950. They moved to Kalamazoo from Pittsburgh in 1952 for Hugh's new job with Upjohn International, and later to Parchment, where she lived until 2022. She was a resident of Heritage Community of Kalamazoo for 2 years before moving to StoryPoint Granger.

Ruth was a long-time, devoted member of First Presbyterian Church, serving on Session and numerous committees, as a frequent lay reader, and as a children's Sunday School teacher. She was also a Cub Scout den mother and Girl Scout leader for several years. After retiring, Ruth volunteered as a reading tutor at an elementary school and enjoyed tending the large vegetable garden at the lake house in Vicksburg, Michigan, that she and Hugh purchased in 1999.

Ruth is survived by their three children, Barbara Oldroyd of Gaithersburg, MD; Hugh (Jeff), Jr. (Patricia Bottorff) of South Bend, IN; and David (Svetlana) of Washington, DC; and two granddaughters, Rachel (Dominic) Dominelli of Vicksburg, MI, and Courtney Moser of Bloomington, IN. She was predeceased by her husband, Hugh, of 69 years in 2009, and by her brother, poet W.S. Merwin, in 2019.

A private memorial service will be held by the family, followed by a reception at First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo on Saturday, May 2, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial contributions be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo, 321 W. South Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49007, or to The Merwin Conservancy, https://merwinconservancy.org/, in Maui, Hawaii, which was founded by Ruth's brother and his wife, Paula.