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• For your safety and the safety of our staff, you must wear a mask when entering the funeral home.
• We will not be allowing more than 25 people in the funeral home at a given time, therefore, we kindly ask that you limit your visitation time in order to accommodate other visitors that may be waiting to enter the chapel.
• We also ask that you please follow all CDC guidelines before entering the funeral home. Please call (718) 745 - 1445 for more information.

Thank You,
Clavin Funeral Home

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Visiting: Tuesday (12/29) 2 - 6 PM
Mass: Wednesday (12/30) 9:30 AM @ Saint Ephrem R.C. Church
Cemetery: Ocean View Cemetery (Staten Island, NY)

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It is with great sorrow that we share that Ruth Larsen died peacefully in her Brooklyn home on December 26, 2020 at the age of 95, in the loving care of family.

Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, Martin Larsen and Jensine Olsen, her brothers Magnus and Olaf, her sisters, Astrid, Magnhild, and Ingrid, and her dear friend, Palmer Turnheim. Her parents came to the United States with their children from Hidra, Norway. Ruth, the youngest, was born in Brooklyn.

She was devoted to her brothers and sisters, their children and grandchildren, her relatives in Norway, and to Palmer's daughter Joy and her family. Ruth's life was steeped in service and dedication to others. She  worked at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn for 37 years as a nurse, a supervisor, a mentor and a friend. She was deeply respected by all throughout her time there.  Nursing was a vocation for her, her true calling. Upon her retirement, she took loving care of her family and friends, including her sister Magnhild, who died at 104.

Ruth had an abiding faith and a spirituality rooted in a profound love of God. She served as a Eucharistic minister, a lector, a member of the Ministry of Consolation and the Prayer Group at Saint Ephrem's Parish Church in Brooklyn. Ruth also offered solace and gave communion to the homebound of her parish, and with a dear friend, to residents of Hamilton Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Among Ruth's passions were music and reading; she loved listening to music and was an avid reader. She enjoyed discussing books with others in her book club. She loved poetry and fiction, and participated in a number of internet discussion sessions on classic American short stories and on poetry from around the world.

Ruth also had a prodigious memory, evidenced by her all-encompassing knowledge of the lives of her  nieces and nephews, their children and grandchildren, as well as her many friends. Her curiosity about their lives was one of the ways she demonstrated her steadfast love. Ruth never forgot a birthday, anniversary, or other celebratory occasion, sending cards, making phone calls, and for the younger children, providing carefully chosen gifts.

Ruth possessed an incomparable generosity of spirit, with deep reserves of empathy and compassion. She saw the good in everyone, a reflection of her positive outlook on life, refracted through her fervent religious faith. She was the best of friends, of which she had many. Her spirit of friendship was rooted in her unconditional acceptance of them in love.

Ruth especially enjoyed moments of quiet joy; she loved to look out her windows at the colors of the morning and evening sky. She cherished small acts of kindness and of love. Ruth's vision of life was sacramental, in which simple, everyday acts are touched by grace. Her life embraced hope and possibility, her beliefs enshrined in her faith.

Ruth's death is a profound loss to us all. We will miss her terribly. Her belief in the miraculous and in the hope the miraculous brings into the world can inspire our own. And though we are saddened by her death, we are consoled by our memories of Ruth. We cherish memories of her goodness and her grace, which are indelibly impressed upon us. We are profoundly grateful in having known her as family members and as friends. We believe that she is now at eternal rest and in lasting peace in the presence of our Lord.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift in remembrance to:

Samaritan's Purse

or

Saint Ephrem's Parish Church