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TUPPER LAKE
Ruth Elizabeth LaRocque Churco, 90, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Friday, August 10th, 2018, at Mercy Living Center. She was just 8 days from her 91st birthday. She was born in Piercefield, NY, to the late Adolph and Ophelia LaRocque on August 18th, 1927, and was the wife of 56 years to the late Benjamin J. Churco, who passed away in May of 2002. She was the matriarch of the LaRocque family, having survived her parents and all 8 of her siblings. Ruth worked at the Oval wood Dish before marrying Ben on October 21, 1946, and then worked for the telephone company, Sunmount, and then at Mercy General Hospital, which is now Mercy Living Center, where she was a medical transcriptionist. She retired in 1988, and she and Ben moved to Poestenkill, NY, where they resided for several years before moving to Troy, NY. In 2008, she moved to Baldwinsville, to live with her daughter, Sandy, where she resided for 7 and a half years. In 2015 she moved back to her beloved Tupper Lake, and has resided at Mercy Living Center these last 2 and a half years.

Ruth enjoyed a very active life, and was always the life of any party. She loved to (belly)dance and sing, and was happy to play her harmonica and accordion to liven up any occasion. She and Ben had a close-knit group of friends, and they loved doing things together, like hunting, camping, snowmobiling, cross country skiing, playing cards-anything that brought them all together. Ruth also loved her family very deeply. She thoroughly enjoyed visits from her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and many of her 75 nieces and nephews and their families these last few years in Mercy. She had an amazing sense of humor, and kept it right up to the end.

Ruth was predeceased by her parents, and 8 siblings: Sister Yvonne LaRocque, Pearl (Rollin) Relyea, Cecile (Robert) Poirier, Rachel (James) Hazel, Allen (Patricia) LaRocque, Ed (Gladys) LaRocque, Raymond (Priscilla) Larocque, and Eugene (Adelaide) LaRocque, a nephew, Cris Relyea, and a niece, Julie Churco.
She is survived by her children, Sandra (Derek) Shepard, of Baldwinsville, NY., Paula (Tim) Hoffay, of Poestenkill, NY., Steve (Brenda)Churco, of Shaftsbury, VT., and Larry Churco, of Tupper Lake.
She is also survived by her grandchildren, Lee (Kelly) Byrne, Lisa,(Matt) Morrow, Michael (Sandy) Shepard, Derek Shepard Jr, Benjamin (Jennifer) Shepard, Steven (Amanda) Shepard, Rebecca (Rod) Klimek, Holly Whitman, Heather (Karen) Hansen, Brett (Katelyn) Churco, Amber (Zachery) Churco, Andrea Churco Marshall, Nicole (Jeremiah) St. Louis, and Cody (Mary) Churco, along with many great grandchildren, and a myriad of nieces and nephews. She was loved by them all, and will be missed by all who knew her.

Family and friends may call at St. Alphonsus Church on Tuesday, August 14 at 10:00 AM, followed by the funeral mass at 11:00. Arrangements are with the Stuart-Fortune-Keough funeral home.

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