Ruth Cornelius Orndorff

Ruth Cornelius Orndorff, 98, of Shepherdstown, WV passed away Saturday, January 13, 2024, at the Hospice of the Panhandle Inpatient Facility, Kearneysville, WV.

Ruth was born June 4, 1925, in Cumberland, MD to the late W. Merle and Viola Watring Cornelius. She graduated from Ridgeley (WV) High School in 1943. While in high school, she won the American Legion Oratorical Contest, which resulted in her being awarded a four-year college scholarship. She attended Shepherd College. In 1944, while at Shepherd, she was one of 918 female college students nationwide selected to take an intensified course in aeronautical engineering financed by the U.S. Navy. Ruth graduated from the program at Purdue University. Subsequently, she became a Curtis-Wright Aeronautical Engineering Cadet working in the wing design department at Curtis-Wright aircraft in Columbus, OH where she remained until the end of WWII. She then returned to Shepherd where she graduated with honors. Later in life, she received a Master of Liberal Arts from Johns Hopkins University.

Ruth was a teacher and supervisor in the Washington County, MD school system, after which, she retired to Largo, FL. She enjoyed travel, nationally and internationally, and visited all 50 states in the US and all 7 continents of the world. She was a member of New Street United Methodist Church in Shepherdstown, WV.

Ruth is survived by her daughters, Margaret Rose Smith and husband, Steven; and Ann Spurgas and husband, Joseph, all of Shepherdstown, WV. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Meg Patterson and husband, Glenn, of Charles Town, WV and Sarah Cooper and husband, Brian, of Shepherdstown. Ruth’s great-grandchildren are Samuel Cooper, Jack Cooper, Brenna Patterson, Reid Patterson, and Justin Brown. She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews. She also had her bonus grandsons, former Shepherd Rams football players: Octavius Thomas, Malik Harleston, and Myles Humphrey.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her granddaughter, Stephanie Bowers, her sister, Barbara Cornelius Sherman, and her brother W. Merle Cornelius, Jr. and wife, Doris.

Services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, January 18, 2024, at New Street United Methodist Church with the Rev. Dee-Ann Dixon officiating. Friends will be received from 6 to 8 p.m. at the church on Wednesday, January 17, 2024. Interment will be in Elmwood Cemetery, Shepherdstown, WV.

Memorial contributions may be made in her name to Shepherdstown Fire Department, P.O. Box F, Shepherdstown, WV 25443 or the New Street United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 188, Shepherdstown WV 25443.

Arrangements are by Melvin T. Strider Colonial Funeral Home in Ranson, WV. Please sign her online guestbook at www.mtstrider.com.