Ruth P. Wilson passed on June 4, 2026, at the age of 108, having been born on March 12, 1918.
When Wilson celebrated her 100th birthday at the Cos Cob Fire House, hundreds of friends and family members lined up to congratulate her.
A beloved teacher, Wilson was a dedicated educator and mentor to generations of students in Cos Cob, often celebrated locally as the unofficial “Queen of Cos Cob.”
Ruth Wilson and her great grand daughter Eliza Wilson and friend Julia Abbazia at Cos Cob Fire House on March 12, 2018 Photo Leslie Yager
Parks & Rec Director Joe Siciliano with Ruth Wilson, who was born in 1918, the year the Town of Greenwich acquired Island Beach. Mrs. Wilson shared her many memories of summers at Island Beach. Aug 25, 2018 Photo: Leslie Yager
In 2018 Wilson attended the 100th anniversary of Island Beach, where she shared memories of visiting Island Beach that went back to 1923.
She was born the year Greenwich acquired the island, and first visited it when she was five. Wilson recalled the itchy woolen bathing suits that were de rigeur in 1923. She said her suit had short sleeves and pants that went below the knee, and that her teenage sister’s swim costume was a shapeless black slip, tunic, black stockings and sneakers.
Wilson told the crowd when she was little, her family would stop at Bennett’s store on Steamboat Road and buy a bottle of milk which they would tote inside a paper bag to Island Beach for lunch.
She was a high school student during the Depression, and recalled how Island Beach was a very inexpensive day of fun for unemployed men.
“I was lucky I met my husband here,” she recalled, adding that her husband claimed to have driven his car across the Sound to Long Island the year it froze over.
“This place has been my happy place ever since I was five years old. My kids were practically born here,” she said.
“I brought both of my children here when they were just months old,” she said. “I could leave the carriage with the babies sleeping over there,” she said pointing to the east side of the island. “And I’d go onto the beach while they slept. I don’t think you could do that nowadays.”
Visitation will be held at Leo P. Gallagher & Son Funeral Home, 31 Arch St, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830, on June 28, 2026, from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
A Memorial Service will be held at Leo P. Gallagher & Son Funeral Home, 31 Arch Street, Greenwich, CT 06830 on June 29, 2026, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm.