Ruth McKinley, wife of Donald McKinley, mother of Lauren, lost
a long battle with cancer on March 29, 1981. Ruth will be re-
membered by all who knew her as a wonderful woman, mother

and craftsman, whose life was dedicated to those things

which meant most to her: family, crafts, clay, love, grace &
beauty.

Ruth was a woman of great serenity and calmness, which almost
obscured the quiet strength of her beliefs and actions. She
gave of herself unstintingly and was always there to help. The
crafts world has suffered an untimely loss. Initially, in
training as a concert painist, she switched to ceramics, and
in 1949 went to New York State college of Ceramics, where she
studied for six years, graduating with a Master of Fine Arts.
After time as a working potter in Ossipee, New Hampshire,

she and husband Don, a woodworker and furniture designer, mov-
ed to Weyland, Michigan, and set up her first pottery, where
she worked with wood firing. Hers were some of the finest
works of functional ceramics ever produced by hand methods.
Concerned with beauty, form, function and sphistication, her
work has provided the pinnacle of craftsmanship to which

many aspire, but few succeed.

Ruth believed that the highest qualities and standards must
be sought, and in this respect oave much in her involvement
with Ceramists Canada, an embryonic national organisation.
With her ideals and objectives, Ruth was an altruist, who
with quiet dedication has changed and inspired many.

Music, balance, harmony, scale, theme and variations will
live forever in her pots, which have the qualities of vitrifi-
ed music, serene, pure and delicate.

We who knew Ruth have been fortunate to have had the enjoy-
ment of her friendship. Ruth will be greatly missed and we
extend out sympathies to Don and Lauren at this time of sorrow.

Ruth wrote, " In pottery, I believe beauty and use should be
considered equally. To this end I have always made useful pots
while working and searching for the most personally satisfy-
ing form-function relationship in each piece."

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