Ruth Olive (Howard) Conway Ackley, 87
(Onondaga) Ruth Olive Ackley, 87, died at Loretto Nursing Home Feb. 13, 2014, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Ruth was born at home in Clark’s Hollow, New York, June 24, 1926, to Orliss Bacon and Elsie (Berean) Howard. She received her primary education at Fabius-Pompey Central School District.
Ruth spent many years raising her five children, waitressing and caring for ill relatives before receiving training to return to the workforce in the home healthcare field in 1980 at age 54. An accident in her early 70s forced her retirement from the work she came to love.
In her retirement, Ruth enjoyed perfecting her home décor, caring for her beloved pets, listening to and singing along with the popular music of her youth, needlework projects and spending copious time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, on whom she had a tremendous positive impact.
She was a resident of the Tully/Apulia area for nearly 70 years before moving closer to Syracuse in her retirement. She enjoyed taking long walks around the communities in which she lived.
Ruth is survived by a son, Henry Joseph and Martha Elaine Conway of Chittenango; four daughters, Ruth Elaine (Conway) Rush and companion Charles Hart, Eileen Frances (Conway) Jakway, Lou Ann (Conway) and James McIntyre of Phoenix, and Nancy Jane (Ackley) and Ronnie A. Rush of Onondaga; nine grandchildren, Jonathan Earl Jakway of Liverpool, William Richard Allen Rush and fiancée Patricia Louise DeBow of Spring City, PA; Alison Nicole (Conway) and Brian Rothrock of Rome, NY; Jenny Eileen Elizabeth Campanella Jakway of DeWitt; Erin Kelly Colleen (McIntyre) and Nick Violette of Illinois; Stefanie Alicia Conway and companion Logan Bretschneider; Eric Mark Steven Rush, Shaun Kyle Rush and Caleb Isaac Vincent Rush; two great-granddaughters, Jessicah Jakway and Brianna Ruth Rothrock; and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
She was predeceased by infant son, James Orliss Conway; her first husband, Henry Mervin Conway, 43, in 1957; her second husband, Martin Mark “Mike” Ackley, in 1980; brothers Emmett Howard, Ken Howard and Erwin Howard; and sisters Mary (Howard) Walburger, Elsie (Howard) Edwards, Virginia (Howard) Dutton and Florence (Howard) Bovee.
Services are being handled by Butler-Badman Funeral Home at the Hartwell location on Route 281 in Tully.
Calling hours will be Monday, Feb. 17, 2014, from 5 to 7 p.m. with services immediately following at the funeral home.
Butler-Badman Funeral Home, Inc. 4504 W Seneca Turnpike Syracuse, NY 13215 (315) 492-4264