Ruth Tanis

Ruth Tanis, age 89, of Cedar Crest Village in Pompton Plains passed away peacefully on Monday, April 22, 2019.

Ruth was born in Paterson and raised in Prospect Park. She met her husband Ken at Hawthorne High School. Their first date was a walk from Prospect Park up through North Haledon. They married on Friday, July 31, 1948 at First Presbyterian Church in Paterson. After a honeymoon at the Point Pleasant Hotel down the Jersey shore, the newlyweds moved in to live in a two-family house with Ruth’s grandparents living on the first floor and Ruth and Ken living on the second floor with Ruth’s parents – three generations in one house!

Ruth started work as a bookkeeper for a local laundry in Paterson and then Universal Manufacturing in Westwood. When the blessing of her children came into her and Ken’s life, she turned her attention exclusively to their nurture and care. Once they were old enough, she returned to working, this time as a retail clerk at Mark Pharmacy in Wayne. She worked there for twenty years before retiring for good.

Ruth was a woman whose faith in God and family were her most cherished blessings. A member of Jacksonville Chapel (now known as The Chapel) in Lincoln Park for over twenty years, she loved worshiping there and participating in the Loaves and Fishes Food Distribution ministry. Ruth enjoyed family outings including picnics at Ringwood Manor, warm sunny days at Swartswood Lake, a nice stroll at Ringwood Manor or High Point State Park, family vacations, and having the family gathered regularly for dinner. Ruth was a great cook and baker and all of her family loved her delicious pies, breads and meat pudding. She loved getting outside in spring and summer to tend to and enjoy her gardens while evenings were spent sewing, knitting or reading a good book.    

Ruth was the loving wife of Ken Tanis, blessed in a long and loving marriage spanning 68 years until his passing in August, 2016. She was the loving and devoted mother of Lori Tanis-Blixt and her husband Timothy of Wayne, and Paul Tanis and his wife Beverly of Denton, Texas; cherished grandmother of Christopher, Jesse, and Jacob Tanis. Ruth was predeceased by her sister Doris Eelman.

In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Ruth’s name are asked to consider a charity of choice.