Ruth Williams Kiley

Published 5:33 pm Tuesday, January 25, 2011

January 14, 2011

On Friday, Jan. 14, Ruth Williams Kiley passed away at home with her husband and children at her bedside.

Ruth Williams Kiley

She was born on Aug. 25, 1950 in Suffolk, Va., to Nancy Ruth and Thaddeus Thomas Williams. She graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Connecticut. In 1972, she married Edmund I. Kiley, a career officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. Together, they lived in coastal cities and towns across the United States: Kodiak Island, Alaska; Newport, R.I.; Laguna Vista, Texas; New Orleans, La.; Washington, D.C.; and Bainbridge Island, Wash. She is survived by her mother, her husband, her three children (Brendan, Conor and Caitlin Kiley), and her three sisters (Debbie Chappell, Betty Manzi and Jean Reilly). Ruth was actively involved in St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church and the Bainbridge Island school system. Family and friends remember her fondly for her quick wit, sharp intelligence, strong opinions and relentlessness on the tennis court and at the bridge table.

A graveside memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 27 at Bethlehem Christian Church.