RUTH LINDQUIST SWANSON, 91,who passed on at the Queen Anne Nursing Home in Hingham on Friday, Jan. 30th, 2004 often said that she was fortunate to begin her long and perceptive life in the rural setting of East Longmeadow, MA, where her love of nature was initiated. There also, along with other unorganized country sports, was fostered her passionate love of ice skating which she enjoyed through middle life. Graduating with honors from Springfield Technical High School she entered, the former Mass. State College at Amherst where she spent the next four years in near total enjoyment gaining her degree in biology. 1935 was near the depth of the great depression and finding no gainful employment available, she worked full time, gratis, at a Springfield museum doing tasks related to her academic training. Later she found a rather unique profession as a marine biologist "on shore" at the William F. Clapp Laboratories at Duxbury, MA. Duxbury, and Ruth got along fine. She helped organize a fun-loving group of young adults called the Phalanx Club that enlivened the scene with costume dances with live music and other activities. Mrs. Swanson found an excellent teacher of dance in Duxbury who had her students also take advantage of lessons from professional performers in Boston. Many of these became famous figures in the history of dance in America. When World War II began, Mrs. Swanson took a course in map drafting at Northeastern University but soon obtained a defense-related position at Harvard's Underwater Sound Lab that was developing sonar for detecting enemy submarines. While there, she was given time out to marry a Duxbury native, Philip O. Swanson, who had shared her feeling for the outdoors, old-fashioned dancing and amateur musicals in that town. The very simple ceremony took place in an Air Force chapel in Louisana and the marriage lasted almost 61 years. At the conclusion of the war the couple decided to try civilian life in Hingham and found good will coming at them from all directions and from all age groups. The South Shore Nature Club, made up of gentle folk all born in the previous century, adopted the young couple and acquainted them with the natural history of the Town of Hingham. A lively group of Ruth and Phil Swanson's contemporaries, in a loosely-organized club, incorporated them gladly in Mardi-Gras dances at the South Shore Country Club, and homemade musicals presented in the former high school on Central Street. Mrs. Swanson completely supported her husband's decision to take advantage of the GI bill in his thirties, and by going to Boston University year-round he managed, with her real help, to get his degree in geology in three years. This led to his teaching career in Hingham. Mrs Swanson's enjoyable life in Hingham included, besides raising two boys into men, singing in the choir of the Second Parish Church, working part time in the public library, enjoying the friendship of interesting and gracious friends of all ages, walking in the woods and enjoying the scene--especially the clouds. Her lifetime interests, music, art, the dance, all things natural, as well as family and friends, were appreciated with a quick, grateful perception and an easily recognized sense of humor. In addition to her husband, Philip O. Swanson of Hingham, she leaves two sons,Peter Swanson of Marshfield and David Swanson of Seattle, WA, as well as 3 grand- children and 1 great grandchild. Contributions in memory of Mrs. Swanson may be made to the Hingham Public Library, 66 Leavitt St., Hingham, MA 02043. A Memorial Service will be conducted on Saturday, March 6th at 2 PM at the High Street Methodist Church, corner of High and Taylor Streets, West Duxbury.