Ruth Annette McDonald, 79, of Crossett, passed away at the Somerset Senior Living Facility on Monday, August 9, 2021. She was born in Crossett, Arkansas, on July 3, 1942, to her parents, Russell Roy and Sylvia Geneva Church Reynolds. She was a lifelong resident of Ashley County and the second female to receive a bachelor's degree from the UAM Forestry Department.
Ruth worked for the Arkansas Forestry Commission for five years, followed by another twenty years at the Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge.
Ruth acquired respect and love for the outdoors at an early age. She was raised south of Crossett at the Forestry Experimental Station, where her father was a forester. After becoming a forester herself, she became the caregiver of many rescued baby animals, which she often took to schools to share and teach children about wildlife.
Ruth organized and led the Junior Naturalist Program, the Youth Fishing Derby, and was a volunteer Girl Scouts Leader. She was a quiet but strong woman who loved her family and loved nature. Upon her retirement, the Friends of Felsenthal built a Butterfly Memorial Garden in her honor.
She is preceded in death by her parents and one brother, Robert Reynolds, and one sister, Sue Reynolds.
She is survived by her three children, Karen Robertson and husband, Glen, of Spring Hill, Tennessee, Janet Pack and husband, Ricky, and Ken McDonald and wife, Donna, all of Crossett; along with two brothers, Jack Reynolds and wife, Bobbie, of Crossett, and Dick Reynolds and wife, Sharon, of Birmingham, Alabama; six grandchildren, Hannah, Russell, Shaun, Josh, Abby, and Andrew; six great-grandchildren, Haleigh, Naomi, Bethany, Gunnar, Nora, and Jonas; and a host of nieces and nephews.
A Graveside Service will be held at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, August 12, at the Hickory Grove Cemetery near Crossett with Bro. Ricky Pack and Jeremy McDaniel, officiating.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the St Judes Children's Research Hospital.
Services entrusted to Medders Funeral Home of Crossett.
To view a video recording of the service, click on the following link:
https://youtu.be/1DoQ0v-WhMA
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