CHEVY CHASE, Md. - On Thursday, September 8, 2011, Ruth Blount Fentress died at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Md. Beloved wife of the late John Simmons Fentress, loving daughter of the late Harry Anderson Blount and Lena Margaret Blunt; devoted sister of Mary B. Hipp (George) of Salisbury and the late Lena Catherine Blount Arthur, Sarah Anita Blount Powell and Harry A. Blount Jr. Also survived by nieces, Cyndy Arthur Rankin (Mike) of Shadyside, Md., Lynne B. Berry (Michael) of Lewisville; nephews, Steven Blount (Meloney) of Salisbury, Andy Arthur (Mary Ruth) of Salisbury, Mark Arthur (Martha) of Carolina Beach, Alan Hipp (Cita) of Gloucester, Va., Greg Hipp (Jackie) of Salisbury and Gerry Powell (Susie) of Luftkin, Texas.
A native of Salisbury, Mrs. Fentress graduated from Wake Forest University in 1946 after completing her first two years at Mars Hill College. Ruth and Simmons spent extensive time in both Raleigh and Charlotte where he was a reporter for both the Raleigh News and Observer and the Charlotte Observer, and then in Atlanta where Simmons was made Bureau Chief of TIME Magazine covering politics. In 1964 they moved to Chevy Chase where Simmons continued his career with TIME Magazine with a two year post as TIME's bureau chief in Saigon during the Vietnam war before returning to the Washington, DC area. Mrs. Fentress was known for her extensive work on Genealogy. Painstakingly tracing ancestors as a member of the First Families of North Carolina and the Jamestown Society.

Friends and relatives are invited to call at the Cotten Funeral Home, 2201 Neuse Blvd., New Bern on Saturday, September 17 from noon to 1:30 p.m. Graveside service will be held on September 17, 2011, at 2 p.m. at Greenleaf Memorial Park in New Bern.

Memorial gifts in honor of Ruth may be made to the Diabetes Association or the American Cancer Society .