Ruth Wortman, 93, Was Accomplished Musician

Ruth C. Wortman of Oak Bluffs and Westlake, Ohio, died peacefully on August 23 at her home on the Vineyard after a pleasant day visiting with friends, swimming at the beach and enjoying dinner with her family. She was 93.

She was born in Norwell on Oct. 5, 1912, to Charles and Hester Coughlan and grew up in Newton Center. She was graduated with a bachelor's degree in science from Jackson College (Tufts), where she met her husband, Weldon W. Wortman of Melrose. They were married in the chapel at Tufts on June 20, 1936, residing in Boston and Bennington, Vt., before moving to suburban Cleveland, Ohio, in 1945.

She had a great zest for life and her interests were many - travel, sailing, swimming, bicycling, square dancing, reading, knitting and spending time with her family. She was fiercely independent and faced life's challenges with determination and enthusiasm.

Music was one of her great loves. She earned a fine reputation as a musician, both as organist and choir director at West Shore Unitarian Church in Rocky River, Ohio, and as a well-respected piano teacher. She was very active in the Northeast Ohio Music Teachers' Association.

Ruth was very committed to her church and to her community and volunteered in many capacities. She delivered Meals on Wheels and tutored students at Harper Elementary School in Cleveland, Ohio, well into her 80s. She also made beds at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital with her husband, and in her younger years was director of the Red Cross learn to swim program in Fairview Park, Ohio.

She had a great love for "her Vineyard," first coming as a young child and later summering at the family cottage in the Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association Camp Ground in Oak Bluffs for 60 years.

She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Weldon, in 1993; an infant daughter, Doris Marjorie; her parents; and her younger siblings, brother Donald Coughlan while an infant and sister Marjorie Pratt.

She is survived by her three daughters and their families: Sally Dagnall and her husband, Russ; Jan Levine and her husband, John; and Julie Wortman and her partner, Anne Cox. She also leaves five grandchildren, Audrey Grossberg and her husband, Rick, Cheryl Green and her husband, Eric, Richard Dagnall and his wife, Denise, Jeffrey Levine and his wife, Carmina, and Andrew Levine and his wife, Liz; eight great-grandchildren, Emily and Elyse Grossberg, Lucas and Sydney Green, Zachary and Megan Ruth Dagnall, and Bennett and Isabel Levine; a brother, Ernest Coughlan; and many close and dear friends

A memorial service will be held on Oct. 22 at the West Shore Unitarian Church in Rocky River, Ohio.

Those who wish may make a memorial donation to the Tabernacle Restoration Fund, P.O. Box 1176, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.