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Ruth J. “Kitty” Dewey, 87
Artist & activist
Ruth J. Dewey, 87, of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., formerly of Provincetown, died Nov. 11 at the Wesley Health Care Center in Saratoga Springs.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1919, she was the daughter of Ray and Helen (Boyce) Kittredge. She graduated from Michigan State University, married and had four daughters. When her children were grown, she returned to school at the Detroit Institute of Art. Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Dewey moved to Provincetown, which she considered the home of her heart.
In Provincetown, Mrs. Dewey worked at Town Camera, joined the Art Association where she showed some of her wood sculptures, and worshipped at the Church of St. Mary of the Harbor (Episcopal). She also volunteered at the Soup Kitchen, which originated at St. Mary’s, and at the Provincetown AIDS Support Group.
Kitty Dewey befriended Robert Williams, the first openly gay priest ordained in the Episcopal Church, when he first arrived in Provincetown as a divinity student. She was instrumental in helping him organize a ministry of healing at St. Mary’s, subsequently relocated outside the church walls as a result of conflicts within the Episcopal hierarchy around the ordination of gay clergy. Mrs. Dewey continued to insist on openness and acceptance for all, regardless of sexual orientation, within the church.
She was a founding member of “Women & God,” a group of women and men that met regularly at St. Mary’s to develop an innovative, alternative liturgy with gender-neutral and female imagery to counterbalance the sexist impression carried by the predominantly masculine forms used in the Book of Common Prayer.
Mrs. Dewey moved to San Antonio, Texas, then to Saratoga Springs to be closer to her family, but maintained her Provincetown connections by e-mail and telephone and welcomed her friends from the Cape when they came to visit. She is survived by her daughters, Barbara of Eugene, Ore., Linda Shimmick of Fair Oaks, Texas, and Patti Osborn of Clifton Park, N.Y.; 10 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. A fourth daughter, Janet Shimmick, predeceased her. A memorial Eucharist was celebrated Dec. 1 at St. Mary’s, followed by interment of her ashes in the churchyard. Memorial donations may be made to the National Parkinson Foundation, Inc.
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Jan 4th, 2007