Ruby Mae (Fennell) Ralston, 100, formerly of Ralston Road, Slippery Rock, died of natural causes Tuesday morning at the Park Vista Nursing Home, Youngstown, Ohio.

Born Nov. 29, 1910, in Kelly Station, Bethel Township, Armstrong County, she was the daughter of Arthur Gordon Fennell and Clara Etta Klingensmith Fennell.

She graduated from Ford City High School in 1926 as class valedictorian. She graduated summa cum laude from Geneva College in 1931 and did graduate work at the University of Pittsburgh.

She taught at the Ambridge Junior High School from 1931 to 1937 and played piano with the Ambridge Symphony Orchestra.

She was married to Raymond Hamilton Ralston, son of William A. and Susan Amelia (Cashdollar) Ralston, July 19, 1937, in the manse of the Lutheran church, Ambridge, by the Rev. C.E. Stahlman. Raymond preceded her in death Oct. 24, 2001.

She attended the Highland Presbyterian Church, Slippery Rock.

In addition to being a history teacher, she was a gifted pianist and author. She wrote these books: “My Fennell Chronicles,” volumes I and II; “My Ruths and Shaffers; My Armitage Family”; “St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kittanning Township, Armstrong County, Pa.”; “Our Hamiltons and Erskines”; “A Post Script to Our Hamiltons and Erskines;” “The Ancestry of Job Staples of Canterbury, Connecticut and Butler County, Pa.” volumes I and II and “The Search For Our Ralston Ancestors in Pennsylvania” before 1800. She also authored articles which appeared in the Keystones Folklore Quarterly, The Palatine Immigrant and The Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly.

She was a former member of the American Association of University Women, the American Legion Auxiliary, the American Medical Association Auxiliary, the Butler County Historical Society, the National Society Daughters of the American Colonists, the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Palatines to America, the Slippery Rock Heritage Association, the Society of the Descendants of Washington's Army at Valley Forge, the Baltzer Meyer Historical Society and the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society.

Surviving are three daughters, Nancy Etta Ralston Cupps and her husband, David S., of Columbus, Ohio, Suzanne Amelia Ralston Butcher, M.D. and her husband, Gene A. Butcher, M.D., of Youngstown, Ohio, and Ruth Hamilton Ralston Crawford of Slippery Rock.

Also surviving are grandchildren, Catharine Cope Cupps, Anne Ralston Cupps, Stewart Hamilton Cupps, Melinda Elizabeth Armitage Cupps Dickler and her husband, Michael, Suzanne Elizabeth Butcher Delwiche and her husband, Louie, Mary Grace Butcher Mendlen and her husband, David, Sarah Christine Butcher Clark, M.D. and her husband, Jeffery, James Crawford Ralston and Robert Hamilton Crawford Ralston; and eight great-grandchildren.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death a sister, Grace Fennell Click Mitchell; and a brother, Ralph Elmer Fennell, M.D.

<B>RALSTON</B> — Services for Ruby Mae (Fennell) Ralston, who died Tuesday, April 19, 2011, will be at the <B>Smith Funeral Home</B>, 421 New Castle St., Slippery Rock, Saturday at 1:30 p.m. with the Rev. Albert Stuart, pastor of the Highland Presbyterian Church, presiding. Friends will be received at the funeral home Saturday from 11:30 a.m. until time of service at 1:30 p.m. Interment will be in Slippery Rock Cemetery.Memorial contributions may be given to Highland Presbyterian Church, 310 Franklin St., Slippery Rock, PA 16057