Ruth Catherine Brown, 85

Ruth “Ruthie” Catherine Brown, lifelong resident of Haverhill and born Jan. 9, 1933, passed away on Nov. 5, 2018 at the age of 85. Her mother was an avid reader and named each of her children after characters she read about in books. “Ruthie” was named after Ruth from the Book of Ruth.

Brown was born five minutes earlier than her twin sister Eileen Josephine Brown. Brown was said to be well known in Haverhill and somewhat of a Haverhill icon, along with her sister who she was survived by. She and her sister loved Marilyn Monroe and often dressed in her likeness.

Brown was one of nine children, Olive, Dottie, Mary, Thelma, Johnny, Kenny, Geraldine and Eileen. Brown and her sister enjoyed climbing the stone walls at the Cogswell School, ice skating at the Bradford pond and seeing movies with her older sister Geraldine at the Strand Theater in Haverhill. Afterwards, they enjoyed lunch at the Bradford College cafeteria and brownies with vanilla ice cream at Peter’s Sweet Shop downtown.

Brown was an artist and enjoyed drawing. She loved all animals, especially cats, and owned many over the years. She loved Dwight Yoakam and has seen him in concert over 20 times. She enjoyed her last show with Eileen this past October at the Portsmouth Music Hall. Brown completed her third year of high school and left to work with Eileen as a knurler at Sandler Rustic shoe factory on Essex Street in Haverhill. Brown and her sister got a job working as crystal lappers at Western Electric, where she worked for 25 years.

She enjoyed the simple things in life – like sunny afternoons spent on the patio and sitting near the pine trees at their little house on Murial Terrace, listening to her favorite songs like Streets of Bakersfield and most of all, just being with her sister Eileen.

Brown is survived by her twin sister Eileen of Haverhill, her older sister Geraldine and her husband Aldo Cretarolo of Haverhill, her nephew Robert J. Gordon and his partner Maria Goncalves of Plaistow, N.H., her niece Diane Gordon and several great nephews and nieces, including Evin Gordon and Julie Garafolo, along with their children Jenxie and Veston Gordon of Plaistow, N.H.

Family and friends are invited to attend calling hours on Tuesday, Nov. 13, from 10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. at the Kevin B. Comeau Funeral Home, 486 Main Street, Haverhill. Funeral services will follow in the funeral home at 11:30 a.m. Burial will be in Elmwood Cemetery, Salem Street, Bradford. Memorial donations in memory of Brown can be made to the MSPCA at Nevins Farm, 400 Broadway, Methuen, MA, 01844.