Ruth Aspden

Ruth Nowell Aspden,101, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Thursday, September 14, 2017 at Brookridge Retirement Home in Winston-Salem, NC. She was born on November 3, 1915, in Cary, NC, to the late Blanche Upchurch Nowell and William McKee Nowell. She graduated in 1937 with a BS in Music from Meredith College in Raleigh. After graduation she taught piano at the NC State School for the Blind in Raleigh. She studied organ with the internationally-known organist E. Power Biggs at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, from 1940-1941. She was organist and choir director at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Raleigh and at Reynolda Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem. During the 1960s, she worked as a ward clerk at NC Baptist Hospital, and she often said she enjoyed that more than any other work she had done. Her love of music and of sewing gave her much joy and satisfaction throughout her life. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Arnold Collison Aspden, with whom she celebrated 67 years of marriage before his death in 2009; her brothers Jackson Nowell, Henry Nowell, and Jeremiah Nowell; and her grandson Robert Tuttle. She is survived by her daughters Susan Overstreet and husband Aubrey of Waynesboro, VA; Sara Cooley of Winston-Salem; Jane Deal and husband James of Richmond, VA; and son Stephen Aspden and wife Marion of Winston-Salem. She is also survived by five grandchildren Lisa Graham and husband Jeff, Kim McManaway, Natalie Josef and partner Sara Deragon, Ashley Batrouny, and Catherine Grodensky and husband Joel ; five great grandchildren Abby Graham, Jacob Graham, Jordan Overstreet, Charles Grodensky and James Grodensky; her sister Mary Nowell Wheeler of Winston-Salem; and many dear nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the YMCA Heritage Fund, 301 N. Main Street, Suite 1900, Winston-Salem, NC 27101. Online condolences may be made at www.hayworth-miller.com.