Ruth Ames Vann

Ruth Ames Vann, 79, died on Sunday at Raleigh Community Hospital. Mrs. Vann, a 49-year resident of Goldsboro, was residing in Carolina House of Wake Forest.

Born in Rochester, New Hampshire and reared in New Britain, Connecticut, Mrs. Vann was the daughter of the late Newell Shaw Ames and Ruth Banim Ames. She attended Boston University and was a graduate of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. In later years she earned a degree in Library Science from East Carolina University. She taught English and later was a librarian in the Goldsboro Public School system for over 20 years, retiring in 1985.

She was predeceased by her husband of fifty years George Norwood Vann. Surviving are her children Deborah Vann Mills and her husband Harold L. Mills, Jr. of Raleigh, NC; George Norwood Vann Jr. and his wife Cynthia D. Vann of Sewickley, PA; Sarah Vann Fishburne and her husband the Rev. Dr. Donald A. Fishburne of Sanibel, FL; and Elizabeth Vann McDuffie and her husband Michael R. McDuffie of Wake Forest, NC. She is also survived by her grandchildren Christian Vann Hagler and her husband Monty D. Hagler; David Newell Mills, Mary Hannah Mills, John Peyton Vann, Allston Vann Fishburne, Sarah Hart Fishburne, Michael Vann McDuffie and John Ames McDuffie. She also was great-grandmother to Julia Hayes Hagler and Peyton Ann Hagler. Other family includes her brother Mr. Richard Ames and his wife Marjorie of Verona, New Jersey; a brother-in-law J. Graves Vann Jr. and his wife Ruth L. Vann of Raleigh; a sister-in-law Louise V. Tronnes and her husband Erling S. Tronnes of Winston-Salem, four nieces and four nephews.

A memorial service celebrating her life will be held at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina on Wednesday, August 11, 2004 at 11:00 am. Burial will follow in the church columbarium.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 200 N. James Street, Goldsboro 27534 or to the Friends of the Library, 1001 E. Ash St. Goldsboro, NC 27530.

Arrangements by Seymour Funeral Home.