Ruth Guertin Gaukstern, 90, a lifelong Nashua resident, passed away Wednesday evening, November 22, 2023 at the Hunt Community, after a period of declining health.
Mrs. Gaukstern was born in Nashua on August 18, 1933, a daughter of the late Gertrude (Vezina) and The Honorable Antoine A. Guertin. Educated in local schools, Ruth graduated from Nashua High School in the Upper Quarter of the Class of 1951. She continued her education at Marymount College in Tarrytown, NY, graduating Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in French in 1955. During her Junior Year, she studied at Sorbonne in Paris, France.
Ruth began her career with the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, DC, as a Foreign Research Analyst from 1955-1956. She then worked as a service representative for the New Jersey Telephone Company in Morristown, NJ from 1957-1959 and continued with New England Telephone Company in Nashua from 1959-1962. Beginning in 1960, Ruth was a co-founder, vice president and treasurer of Ferd Corporation (General Contractor) of Hollis, NH until 1987.
A communicant of St. Christopher Parish, Ruth was the church bookkeeper from 1987 -1996 and served as a Eucharistic Minister.
Very active in the Nashua community, Ruth was a Hunt Legacy Trustee; was a member and Past Board Member of the Nashua Federation of Republican Women; was a member of St. Joseph Hospital Auxiliary; was corresponding secretary and Past President of the Good Cheer Society and a former longtime member of the Nashua Country Club.
Ruth was a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Red Cross and the Nashua Girls Club. She also served on the finance committee of the Visiting Nurse Association and served two terms on the Advisory Board of Rivier University.
In addition to her parents, Ruth was predeceased by her brother, Antoine A. “Tony” Guertin, in February 2004; and her granddaughter, Amanda Elin Gaukstern, in October 2020.
Members of her family include her son and daughter-in-law, Joseph and Anne-Marie Gaukstern of Bedford, NH; a granddaughter, Emily (Gaukstern) Phaneuf and her husband Charles of Moultonborough, NH; great-grandson, Henrik J. Kenny of South Hamilton, MA; sister-in-law, Louise F. Guertin of Nashua; three nephews and their wives, Marc and Daye Guertin of Georgia, Paul and Robin Guertin of Nashua, and David and Julie Guertin of Massachusetts; a niece and her husband, Suzanne and Todd Hirschberg; several grandnieces and grandnephews and cousins.
Calling hours will be held at the FARWELL FUNERAL HOME, 18 Lock Street, Nashua on Monday, December 4th from 4 to 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in St. Christopher Church, 62 Manchester Street, Nashua, Tuesday, December 5th at 10 a.m. Family and friends are invited to gather at the church. Interment will take place in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to Northern New England Chapter of the American Red Cross, 425 Reservoir Avenue, Manchester, NH 03104 or the Boys & Girls Club, One Positive Place, Nashua, NH 03060. To leave an online message of condolence, please visit www.farwellfuneralservice.com
