Ruth E. Burt

Ruth (Ruthie) Burt died peacefully at the age of 91 in her sleep on September 4, 2017. She was able to remain in her Canterbury home cared for by her daughter Margaret Burt and protected by her chocolate lab Tipper. Their post and beam house built in Canterbury represented her commitment to New Hampshire craftsmen.

Ruth Evangeline Kendall was born May 11, 1926 in Concord NH on Downing Street to Edith Evangeline (Davidson) of Inverness, Quebec, Canada and Wilber Kendall of Loudon, NH. She was the youngest of 3 children. Crafts and self-sufficiency skills were always a part of Ruthie's life. She learned to sew her own clothes at an early age as well as braid rugs, hand sew quilts, knit and had a particular fascination for the skills of her uncle who maintained a blacksmith shop on the Kendall family farm. This led to Ruthie's mindset that she could "make anything".

She graduated from Concord High School in 1944 and then met Herman Burt who Ruthie described as "the most handsome man she had ever seen." They raised two daughters in Concord and Ruthie continued developing her talents by completing many challenging projects. She was a master seamstress able to tailor men's suits, elegant wedding dresses, costumes for both Concord Community Theater and dance recitals and was honored to be chosen by the Canterbury Quaker Village to make traditional dresses and bonnets for Sister Bertha and Sister Gertrude. Fabric was the medium for many of her artistic creations.

The League of New Hampshire Craftsmen offered a variety of classes taught by local artists that developed Ruthie's eye for quality craftsmanship. Ruthie set up a basement studio with a kiln to make enamel pieces, acetylene torch to pursue silversmithing, a pottery wheel and wood working equipment to work toward mastery of the techniques she was taught. Joe Trippetti, director of the league at that time, realized these special talents and offered Ruthie the position of Supervisor of Standards for the League Jury that she held until her retirement. Ruthie and other artists juried the crafts of all new artists wishing to join the league for quality, design, and structural integrity before accepting the artist to submit their crafts for sale in the league shops. Despite at times having to offer criticisms for work presented for jury, Ruthie was a respected and honored member of the league family.

In her retirement years she continued to pursue many different projects and remained active and ambitious until the last few years. There were always interesting things to see and do at the Canterbury house that created memories for both the young and older friends who visited.

Ruthie was preceded in death by her beloved husband Herman Emerson Burt of 56 years, her sister Pearl M. Fletcher of Concord, NH who shared Ruthie's artistic talent and appreciation, Ralph E. Kendall of Keene, NH and predeceased by brother Robert . She is survived by her daughter, Margaret Burt of the home, Catherine and husband Richard Schlaefer of Atlantic Beach, NC and grandsons Peter Schlaefer and Steven Schlaefer of San Francisco, CA., brother-in-law Robert E Burt, Nephews Alan Fletcher, Rick Burt and nieces Joan Plodzik and Christine Conte as well as grand and great grand nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at the discretion of the family. The family request, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Educational Program, Concord, NH. www.nhcrafts.org