Obituary of Ruth Isabella Prybylski Matson

October 10, 2011 Ruth Isabella Prybylski Matson, 90, died Monday, October 10, 2011 at Rosewood Heights Nursing Home. Mrs. Matson was born in Syracuse on September 6, 1921, at 846 Park Ave. where she lived her entire life, and was the daughter of Stanley and Pelagia Lewandowska Prybylski. She attended Porter School and graduated from Syracuse Normal School. She graduated cum laude from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and a Master of Science degree in Audio Visual education. Ruth married Donald Matson on November 25, 1950 in Hendricks Chapel at Syracuse University. The marriage was tragically cut short when Don drowned in a boating accident on Cayuga Lake on August 20, 1955. Ruth taught for the Syracuse City schools as a Corrective Reading teacher and was a member of the Symfonia Choir at Sacred Heart Church and was an accomplished pianist. She was a world traveler and visited Poland several times. She enjoyed a summer home - Willa Rucia - on Lake Ontario for many years. She also taught Polish dancing in Syracuse in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1980s, she was one of the leaders of a committee that was instrumental in preventing parts of Frazer Park from being turned into a parking lot for Frazer school. Since 1984 she was active with Toastmasters International and earned several awards and leadership positions as a member of this organization. Ruth was a communicant of Holy Cross Polish National Catholic Church, of which her parents were founding members. Ruth was predeceased by her parents, her husband, her sister Esther Slowakiewicz, her two brothers Eugene and Arthur Prybylski, and an infant brother Boleslaw, and her nephew William Prybylski. She is survived by two grandneices in Indiana and Ohio and several cousins. A Wake will be held at Hollis Funeral Home, 1105 W. Genesee St., from 10:00am - 11:30am on Saturday October 15th with a funeral Mass at Noon at Holy Cross Polish National Catholic Church, 3690 Armstrong Road, Lakeland. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Contributions in Ruth's name may be made to the Kosciuszko Foundation, 15 East 65th Street, New York, NY 10065-6595, (212) 734-2130; or the Polish Home, 915 Park Avenue Syracuse, New York 13204