Ruth Sheldon Bodurtha

Ruth Sheldon Bodurtha of New London, NH, Center Ossipee, NH, and most recently of Hookset, NH died at the age of 100 on April 8, 2026. She was born in Newton, MA, the daughter of Walter Marson Sheldon and Mary (McGann) Sheldon.

Ruth graduated from Lexington High School (MA) and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Following graduation, she spent several years as a pharmacist at her father’s pharmacy in Bedford, MA. In 1950, she married Frank T. Bodurtha, her husband of 66 years.

Shortly after World War II, she traveled by bicycle throughout England and Europe and saw the destruction from the war. As a young woman, she taught swimming and served as a recreation and water safety instructor with the Red Cross Water Safety Program at Walden Pond in Concord, MA. In later years, when she resided in Delaware with her husband, she served as a docent at the Winterthur Museum.

Ruth enjoyed swimming, skiing, and especially world travel. She traveled throughout Africa on safaris; cruised down the Nile; visited the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem; rode elephants in India and Nepal and camels in Egypt; and visited the Communist bloc countries of East Germany, Russia, China, and Cuba. Her travels also took her to South America and the Falkland Islands, to Australia and New Zealand, as well as Scandinavia and the British Isles and Outer Hebrides.

She enjoyed two summer homes in Center Ossipee, NH, especially the one her grandparents built in 1901 on Dan Hole Pond.

She served as a volunteer for New London Hospital. She was a member of the New London Garden Club, and attended St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in New London, NH.

She is survived by her son, Richard, of Plymouth, MA; her daughter, Carol Bodurtha Hannigan, and her husband, Mark, of Wakefield, MA; and her grandson, Andrew, and his wife, Megan, of Nashville, TN; her granddaughter, Katherine Hannigan, of Beverly, MA, as well as several nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her husband Frank T. Bodurtha, and her twin sister, Phyllis Schofield, of South Jordan, Utah.

Funeral services will be private. Memorial donations may be made to the Loon Preservation Committee, P.O. Box 604, Moultonborough, NH 03254, or loon.org/donate/

Lord Funeral Home of Wolfeboro, NH will be assisting the family with arrangements. If you wish to express a condolence or leave a fond memory please visit, www.lordfuneralhome.com

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