FARMINGTON – Ruth Sterling Buxton, 85, of Strong, beloved daughter, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, went home to be with her Heavenly Father on Sunday, Nov. 16.

She was born in Bingham, Aug. 26, 1923, the youngest child of Ernest Augustus and Alberta Ellen Sterling.

She touched so many lives with her kindness, compassion and caring. She was the migratory teacher for Strong, Phillips, Kingfield and Mt. Abram schools for 20 years. She loved children and teaching.

She held many positions during her lifetime. During World War II, she stacked lumber as part of service on the home front. She also worked in the code room at Scott Field, Illinois. After the war, she completed her secretarial training at Skowhegan Commercial School and became a secretary at the S.D. Warren Co. in Bingham.

While working at the concession stand at the Colby Theater in Bingham, she met the business teacher at Bingham High School, who took tickets at the theater. She married Raymond Buxton Aug. 29, 1953. While living in Mt. Holly, N.J., during her husband’s military service, she was secretary at the Garden State Teacher’s Agency.

After completion of military service, Ray and Ruth returned to Maine, where they worked as cook and waitress at the Bemis Restaurant in Bingham, until Ray began teaching in Strong that fall. She also worked in the hot lunch program in Strong, before attending the University of Maine at Farmington to become a teacher.

She was devoted to her family, students and to three special family dogs, Taffy, Blackie and Jessica. She was an avid reader and loved to watch the Boston Red Sox and attended an occasional game with Ray. She and Ray also enjoyed watching harness racing at Farmington Fair and shared an appreciation of a particular little horse, Sandy River Belle.

She loved dancing, figure skating, swimming, cross-country skiing, biking and exercising at the fitness center at the University of Maine at Farmington. She enjoyed music and taught herself to play the piano at an early age. She and Ray were members of the Strong Methodist Church and the Order of the Eastern Star. She looked forward to the Christmas Cantata at the Methodist Church and was the narrator for several years.

After retiring from teaching, she became a volunteer at Franklin County Memorial Hospital and was honored for her many hours of service. She enjoyed her volunteer work and the people she met.

She is survived by a loving family who will miss her with all their hearts – daughter, Sherry Haines and son-in-law, Dick, of Caribou; son, Michael Buxton and daughter-in-law, Melany, of Avon; grandchildren, Heather Fullen and husband, Mark, of Presque Isle, Kevin Haines and Ameta Lynne Parlin, of Bar Harbor and Sullivan and Meghan Buxton and Keith Flagg of Fayette; as well as great-grandchildren, Wyatt, Allison and Garrett Fullen and Jazzmyne and Ryder Haines; and several nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her husband; parents; four brothers; and one sister.