| Ruth Elizabeth Cocker Kenefick |
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The Frederick News-Post, As originally published on Friday, September 23 2011
Ruth Elizabeth Cocker Kenefick, a fifth generation Washingtonian, died
on September 20, 2011 at the Lorien Nursing Home in Mt Airy, Maryland
of complications from Alzheimers disease. She was born July 22, 1916.
The daughter of Charles Riggles Cocker and Pearl Viola German
Cocker, Ruth was raised in Georgetown, attended Gordon Jr. High and
graduated from Western High School (now Duke Ellington School of the
Arts) in Washington, D.C. in 1938.
Mrs. Kenefick's great-grandfather settled in Georgetown after the Civil
War. Her grandfather, Malachi German, drove a horse drawn trolley from
Georgetown to the White House. In her childhood, Mrs. Kenefick recalled
carrying her grandfather's lunch pail to the Georgetown terminal and
accompanying him on his route while he ate lunch. She also recalled that
one of the family's neighbors was attorney, Robert Lincoln, the only
surviving son of President Abraham Lincoln.
Mrs. Kenefick went to work for the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone
Co. as an operator after high school. She left the phone company to
accompany her husband to Panama in 1946, returning to the Washington
area in 1951.
The family lived in Seat Pleasant, Maryland and in Washington, D.C.
until 1956 when they moved to Wheaton. Mrs. Kenefick was active in
Democratic politics and civic affairs in Wheaton. She worked as a
housekeeper at the Rectory of St. Catherine Laboure Church in Wheaton
from the mid 1960s until her retirement in 1978.
Mrs. Kenefick moved to Mt. Airy, Maryland in 1978, where she
participated in the Mt. Airy Senior Center on a daily basis.
Mrs. Kenefick’s husband, Joseph Aloysius Kenefick died in 1974.
She is survived by seven children, Bruce J. of Springfield, VA, Gregory
P. of Annapolis, MD, Donald J. of Northern Neck, VA, Kevin A. of
Winchester, VA, Terrence G. of St. Leonard, MD, Deirdre J. of Mt. Airy,
MD, and George J. of Mt. Airy; eight grandchildren and seven great-
grandchildren.
Ruth Elizabeth Cocker Kenefick, a fifth generation Washingtonian, died
on September 20, 2011 at the Lorien Nursing Home in Mt Airy, Maryland
of complications from Alzheimers disease. She was born July 22, 1916.
The daughter of Charles Riggles Cocker and Pearl Viola German
Cocker, Ruth was raised in Georgetown, attended Gordon Jr. High and
graduated from Western High School (now Duke Ellington School of the
Arts) in Washington, D.C. in 1938.
Mrs. Kenefick's great-grandfather settled in Georgetown after the Civil
War. Her grandfather, Malachi German, drove a horse drawn trolley from
Georgetown to the White House. In her childhood, Mrs. Kenefick recalled
carrying her grandfather's lunch pail to the Georgetown terminal and
accompanying him on his route while he ate lunch. She also recalled that
one of the family's neighbors was attorney, Robert Lincoln, the only
surviving son of President Abraham Lincoln.
Mrs. Kenefick went to work for the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone
Co. as an operator after high school. She left the phone company to
accompany her husband to Panama in 1946, returning to the Washington
area in 1951.
The family lived in Seat Pleasant, Maryland and in Washington, D.C.
until 1956 when they moved to Wheaton. Mrs. Kenefick was active in
Democratic politics and civic affairs in Wheaton. She worked as a
housekeeper at the Rectory of St. Catherine Laboure Church in Wheaton
from the mid 1960s until her retirement in 1978.
Mrs. Kenefick moved to Mt. Airy, Maryland in 1978, where she
participated in the Mt. Airy Senior Center on a daily basis.
Mrs. Kenefick’s husband, Joseph Aloysius Kenefick died in 1974.
She is survived by seven children, Bruce J. of Springfield, VA, Gregory
P. of Annapolis, MD, Donald J. of Northern Neck, VA, Kevin A. of
Winchester, VA, Terrence G. of St. Leonard, MD, Deirdre J. of Mt. Airy,
MD, and George J. of Mt. Airy; eight grandchildren and seven great-
grandchildren.
