Ruth E. Reynolds (nee Barry), 98, died at home in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago on Jan. 18, 2011. Born in Chicago on Sept. 19, 1912, to her parents, the late Arthur and Ellen Barry, she moved with her family from Presentation Parish on the West Side of Chicago to 722 S. Oak Park Ave. in Oak Park in 1917 when she was five years old.
She graduated from Ascension School and from Trinity High School in 1930. As yearbook editor, she forecast her career, following her father’s profession as an advertising writer and her two brothers as Chicago Tribune byline writers, when she wrote: “Her life is just one peaceful dream and writing verses by the ream.”
Ms. Reynolds earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Chicago and was an accomplished classical pianist. She spent four decades as a national brand advertising writer with Chicago ad agencies. As a single mother, her life’s work was her dedication to the care and companionship of her late daughter, Rita.
Ruth’s brothers were Edward L. Barry, the Tribune’s music critic and later its art critic and associate editor of the Sunday Magazine, and Howard J. Barry, a 38-year veteran of the Tribune’s sports department, who, as turf editor, covered Big Ten football, Golden Gloves, Silver Skates races and the Tribune Ski School in the off season.
Ruth Reynolds is survived by her brother, Howard; her nieces and nephews, Richard (Mary Jo), Lauren (Nicole), Barbara, Paul (Cheryl), John (Debbie), Allen (Kate), and Martha (Marion Kryczka) Barry; and her loving caregivers, Christina Akinlolu/Adeniyi, Sandra Cohros, Cordelia Coleman, Cynthia Jenkins, Carole Mirtil, Ketly Montuma, Debra Thompson, and Valerie Turck. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Rita; her brother, Edward L. (the late Jeanne); and her sister-in-law, Isabel.
Services were held on Jan. 22 at St. Gertrude Church in Chicago, followed by interment at Calvary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions to Misericordia, 6300 N. Ridge Ave., Chicago 60660 are appreciated.
