Ruth Lunt Bechdel of West Chester, real estate agent for 32 years
Ruth Lunt Bechdel of West Chester, a real estate agent for 32 years, died of liver cancer at home on Friday, Jan. 13, her 94th birthday.
Ruth Lunt Bechdel of West Chester, a real estate agent for 32 years, died of liver cancer at home on Friday, Jan. 13, her 94th birthday.
In 1966, after moving to Berwyn, Mrs. Bechdel became an agent for Robert Bruce Realty. She reached her first million dollars in sales by selling low-priced homes in the King of Prussia area, a daughter, Debby Schmidt, said.
Later, she would sell more expensive homes on the upper Main Line to many of those initial buyers, often selling three homes to the same clients, her daughter said.
"They trusted her judgment. She would tell them if a home wasn't right for them," Schmidt said. After the buyers moved in, they relied on her knowledge of the area, and she would get calls at 3 a.m. asking for recommendations for a pediatrician, her daughter said.
Mrs. Bechdel retired in 1998, when she was 80.
A native of Minneapolis, Mrs. Bechdel attended Oberlin College and Kent State University as a theater major.
She was hosting her own radio program, The Rae Lunt Show, in Butler, Pa., in December 1941 when news of the attack on Pearl Harbor came over the teletype.
In 1943, she married Robert O. Bechdel, a Pennsylvania state trooper she met at a local gas station.
While living in Butler, Mercer, and Beaver Counties in the early days of her marriage, Mrs. Bechdel operated Beckland Kennels. She sold English springer spaniels to clients along the East Coast and won a puppy class competition at Madison Square Garden in the 1940s.
Over the years, dogs of various breeds were always part of her family, her daughter said.
In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Bechdel is survived by daughters Brook Hedderick and Robyn Morgan; a brother; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Her husband died in 1994.
A celebration of life will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at Sullivan House at Hershey's Mill, 1500 Green Hill Rd., West Chester.
Donations may be made to Crime Victims' Center of Chester County Inc., 135 W. Market St., West Chester, Pa. 19382.