One of Leesburg's oldest residents has passed away. Ruth Marguerite Nelson, age 103, passed away at her home in Leisure World of Virginia on April 29, 2009 from congestive heart failure.

One of five daughters, Ruth was born in Chillicothe, Missouri to the late Clara Edith (Cheyney) and James Robert Wilson, owner of a cigar factory, on January 20, 1906. Through her mother, Clara, Ruth is descended from Thomas Cheyney, who was credited with bringing crucial information to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War Battle of Brandywine. A farmer in the area, Cheyney traveled by horseback to inform Washington about British troop movements near Chads Ford, Pennsylvania and was later recognized for his service to the Revolutionary Army.

She used to tell stories of rollerskating on the sidewalks in town with her sisters, of traveling in horse-drawn carriages and wagons and of the day when an automobile salesman came by and took her mother for her first ride in a car.

She welcomed the advances she saw in her life, especially in medicine and travel. A lifelong reader, she educated herself by reading her son's college textbooks, especially those on history and politics.

Ruth grew up in northwestern Missouri. She graduated from high school in 1923. Later that year she moved to Washington D.C. where she joined her two older sisters Ora Nita and Louise Elizabeth. She found employment as a telephone operator with C&P Telephone Co. where she met her future husband, Charles Nelson whom she later married in July of 1928. Charles died in 1978 after 50 years of marriage.

Ruth and Charles moved to Maryland Park, Maryland in Prince Georges County in 1932. They started their family during the Great Depression. Over the next 30 years they raised four children; Margaret, Charles, Frederick and Barbara. Ruth volunteered in the public schools where her children attended in Prince Georges County, Maryland. She also worked as a substitute teacher in the elementary schools and as an assistant office manager in the 1960's at the Capitol Heights Elementary School.

She was a member of the Maryland Park Christian Church where she was a Sunday school teacher and a member of the Christian Women's Fellowship. She also was active in the 1970's in a chapter of the Telephone Pioneers of America after she and her husband, Charles Nelson, retired in Calvert County, Maryland. More recently she has been a member of the Ashburn Presbyterian Church.

Ruth is survived by her four children: Margaret Whitmore of Leesburg, Virginia; Charles Nelson of Leesburg, Virginia; Frederick Nelson of Springfield, Virginia and Barbara Nelson of Winchester, Virginia. Also surviving are 10 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren and 2 great, great grandchildren. Along with her parents Clara and James, she was predeceased by her husband, Charles.

A memorial service will be held in her honor on Friday, May 8, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. at the Ashburn Presbyterian Church in Ashburn, Virginia. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to Capital Hospice, 6565 Arlington Blvd., Suite 50, falls Church, Virginia 22042