Ruth Allard

Ruth Chandler Mason Allard of Lyndon passed away peacefully on January 14, 2022, a few weeks after her 95th birthday, at Birchwood Terrace in Burlington, Vermont. Ruth was born on Christmas Day in 1926 in North Stratford, New Hampshire, the first of five sisters. Her family soon moved to Lyndon Center, where her father was the postmaster and ran the general store, and her mother worked as a florist. Ruth attended Lyndon Institute and went on to obtain a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont before marrying her wartime pen pal, Arthur “Dean” Allard, in 1950.  They rented an apartment in Lyndon Center while Ruth taught Home Economics in Newport. In 1958 they purchased a farm in Lyndon Corner, just up York Street beyond Dean’s family home and dairy farm. By then Dean had taken over his father’s farming operation, and Ruth stayed home with their two children and worked as a seamstress. When the kids were old enough to go to school, Ruth began teaching Home Economics at Lyndon Institute, instructing many girls and boys in how to cook, clean and sew. In 1985 she received the University of Vermont Outstanding Teacher Award. She spent the remainder of her career at LI, in her spare time completing a master’s degree in Education from Lyndon State College (now Northern Vermont University).

Ruth was a real Vermonter. She had a strong Christian faith and was a member of the Lyndon Center Baptist Church, singing in the choir for many years, and then the North Danville Baptist Church. She was a homebody, seldom traveling far from the Northeast Kingdom. She loved to bake, sew, and prepare garden vegetables for the freezer. In the summers, she baked bread that was sold mainly to the “summer people,” giving her a chance to meet and befriend everyone on Diamond Hill and beyond. She was an avid reader and a loyal patron of the Cobleigh Public Library in Lyndonville. She always kept busy; her craft was turning used woolen clothing into braided rugs that were then sold or given away. Her children remember from their youth the sounds of wool being torn into strips and the clacking of metal braiders.

In 1985, Ruth and Dean moved from their farmhouse into a small stone cape “up the lane” that she designed, and which was built for them by their son David. They enjoyed many years together there. Ruth’s husband Dean died in 1998, and several years later at the age of 80, she married Arthur Lord, who coincidentally was the person from whom she and Dean had purchased the farm back in 1958. Arthur moved from his home in Ripton, Vermont into the stone cape house and they lived there together until moving to assisted living in Chittenden County in 2019.

Ruth was predeceased by her parents Harold and Eunice Mason, her sisters Dorothy Jean Mason and Aloha Burhoe, her first husband Arthur Dean Allard and her second husband Arthur Lord. Her surviving relatives include her sisters Linda Cutting and Gena Teachout, daughter Dorothy Jean Allard, her husband Bill Martin and his son Brian Martin; her son David Mason Allard, his wife Judy Gray Allard, their sons Elias and Steven Amos and his wife Kaliope; and stepdaughter Kristin Lord, her husband Christopher Small and their daughter Helen Small.

According to Ruth’s wishes there will be no visiting hours. Burial arrangements are being made by Guibord-Pearsons Funeral Home in Lyndonville.  She will be laid to rest in Lyndon Center Cemetery next to her first husband.  A memorial service will be held on May 19, 2022 at 11:00 AM at the North Danville Baptist Church, followed by interment at Lyndon Center Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the North Danville Baptist Church, 4243 Bruce Badger Memorial Road, North Danville, VT  05828 or to Lyndon Institute, PO Box 127, 168 Institute Circle, Lyndon Center, VT 05850.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www.guibordfh.com