Ruth Louise Seccio, waitress, and artist, dies at 64

ONCE SHE GOT the travel bug out of her system, Ruth Louise Seccio settled down in her native Philadelphia, where she worked at various restaurants as a popular and efficient waitress.

But before that for several years, she and her daughter Ruthann saw lots of the country, as Ruth went from one waitressing job to another.

"We got to see different cultures," Ruthann said. "We had friends who were cowboys, all sorts of people. I learned to adapt to every situation.

"I went to 68 different schools before I was 13."

Ruth Seccio, a charming redhead and a generous woman who took care of the elderly in the senior-living facility where she lived, died of cancer Friday. She was 64 and lived in South Philadelphia.

Among her proudest moments was when her daughter decided to join the Catholic Church last spring, had her first communion and confirmation, and had her photo taken with Cardinal Justin Rigali at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul.

"She was so proud that her daughter had overcome so many obstacles and turned her life around," said Kitty Caparella, retired Daily News reporter who often wrote about organized crime.

Ruthann was the onetime girlfriend of mob boss Ralph Natale, who became a government informant in 1999, ratting on his former mob associates in return for a shorter prison sentence.

Natale was married and 34 years older than Ruthann when they met in 1994. He's free now and trying to peddle his memoirs. Ruthann has had nothing to do with him for 12 years, and turned to the church for solace.

Her mother was born in Philadelphia to Ruth and Charles Marker Sr. She grew up on Dicks Avenue, in Southwest Philadelphia, and attended John Bartram High School.

Her trek with her daughter included California, Las Vegas - where she was a cocktail waitress in casinos - Arizona, New Jersey and points in between.

Out of that experience, Ruthann said, she learned to survive and became "the strongest woman walking the streets today."

Ruth surprised everyone when she started to paint abstract images that were greatly admired by friends and family. "I said to her, 'You can paint like that?' " Ruthann said. "I asked her why she hadn't painted before and she said she hadn't had the time."

Those paintings grace the walls of family and friends, but she never made much of an effort to sell or exhibit them.

"She was strong-minded," Ruthann said. "Stubborn, but considerate. She was loving to those who deserved it."

When she lived in the Anthony Wayne senior living apartments, 28th and Morris streets, Ruth took care of her neighbors.

"She would cook for them, dye their hair, whatever they needed," Ruthann said. "She was a giver."

"She was a vivacious redhead," Kitty Caparella said. "She was very attractive, very charming. She knew how to take care of herself."

She also is survived by another daughter, Stacy; a sister, Carol Marker Anderson; a brother, Charles Marker; and three grandchildren.

Services: Graveside service noon Saturday in Ss. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Marple.