The first time Melanie and Bruce Snyder walked through the house at 626 W. Walnut St., they couldn't believe it.

Furnished from a bygone era and filled with decades of mementos from the previous owner, Ruth Lasof, the row home resembled a time capsule.

It was hard for Melanie Snyder to ignore the pilot's log in a prominent place on the third-floor desk, and the National Rifle Association sharpshooter certificate hanging on a wall.

"I just felt there was a story there," she said.

The 96-year-old residence needed work, but the Snyders were smitten. They purchased it last November, and as the house was being renovated over the past eight months, Melanie Snyder has been busy with her own project:

Resurrecting the unconventional and fascinating life of the late Ruth Lasof, which she may turn into a book.

Till the Snyders bought the home — across from Reynolds Middle School — it was owned by the same family since 1923, Melanie Snyder said.

The residence was unoccupied for two decades, but maintained by Ruth until she died in December 2009 at age 84. No one seems to know why she didn't move in, sell it or rent it out.

Time only deepened Ruth's emotional attachment to the house, said a neighbor who lived on West Walnut Street during the 1990s. While there was an initial assumption on the neighbor's part that Ruth would eventually sell the home, it became increasingly apparent that it was becoming difficult, if not impossible, for her to part with the house, its memories and the friendships tended over backyard fences.

Though she lived in an apartment on Eden Road and never slept at the Walnut Street house, Ruth received her mail there and came by "at least three, four times a week," said neighbor Danny Whittle.

She "had a very strong attachment" to her childhood home, he said.

William and Marie Ehrhart were married in the house, and their daughter, Ruth, was born in 1925. Ruth's mother continued to reside there long after her husband died in 1944, Melanie Snyder said.

A widow with no children, Ruth inherited the residence when her mom passed away in 1989, but she never moved back into the home, Snyder said.

Ruth left her house and much of her estate to the service dogs program at United Disabilities Services, which put the house on the market.

The three-story brick edifice was built in 1915. Bruce Snyder said he thinks it may be from the Beaux Arts period.

The kitchen still contained a gas stove on legs "that was probably from the 1930s," he said, and the bathroom boasted an old-fashioned claw-foot tub.

The Snyders lived in Elizabethtown before moving to the city.

Treasure trove of memories
Not only did Ruth leave her mother's possessions behind — including clothes, furniture, perfume bottles and medicine bottles — but she had scrapbooks all over the place, Melanie Snyder said.

"There were clues everywhere to [Ruth's] life," she said.

The third-floor bedroom — now belonging to the couple's college-age daughter, Hannah — was more than likely Ruth's, Snyder said.

In addition to her scrapbooks, passport and pilot's log, there were photos and plaques on the walls; letters and books on the desk; and childhood toys, including a composition doll, on a chair.

The items in the house were turned over to the Salvation Army, as stipulated in Ruth's will. Melanie Snyder, however, fell in love with the little green rocking chair in the kitchen and bought it back.

She also wanted to keep the scrapbooks, letters and other personal items. Ephrata National Bank, which was handling Ruth's estate, went to the national headquarters of the Salvation Army seeking permission for her to do that.

Ruth "led a really interesting life," Snyder said. "I couldn't stand the idea of no one knowing, and the material going in a landfill."

Even after her request to the Salvation Army, she wasn't sure the memorabilia would be turned over to her, she said.

But one day Snyder said she got a call "out of the blue," and a truck came by to drop off 10 tubs of material. Ruth had even saved old ticket stubs, and sugar-cube wrappers she collected on trips with her father in 1937.

Some framed mementos, including the NRA certificate, were bought by Snyder from the Salvation Army.

She said she's slowly taking inventory of what's in the boxes. From that plethora of clues, Snyder has been able to start assembling the jigsaw pieces of Ruth's life.

A freelance writer who authored the book "Grace Goes to Prison: An Inspiring Story of Hope and Humanity," Snyder has been blogging about her discoveries at melaniegsnyder.com/blog.

'A bit of a rebel'
Sitting at the family's dining room table one recent morning, Melanie Snyder leafed through the dark-blue, leather-bound pilot's log. Snyder pointed out that Ruth began taking flying lessons in August 1955 at Lancaster Airport and apparently earned her license in late 1957.

Ruth's husband, Solomon Lasof, whom she married in 1961, also piloted planes, Snyder said. "They flew all over the place."

She also learned that Ruth was enrolled at The Ogontz School — a former private school for girls whose campus is now home to Penn State Abington — from the time she was 7 and attended an Ogontz-run summer camp in New Hampshire.

During her research, Snyder discovered that Ruth's parents separated in 1932 and custody of the child was awarded to her father, who owned Lancaster Pretzel Machine Co.

Ruth's father and a household employee testified about her mother's "severe measures of correction" in dealing with the child, according to a newspaper article. Her mother and multiple witnesses denied accusations of mistreatment.

Judge B.C. Atlee issued his custody decision with the understanding that Ruth would be sent to a girls' school. Both parents were granted equal visitation privileges.

Unlike most of those enrolled at The Ogontz School, Snyder said, Ruth didn't come from a wealthy family. She also was the youngest girl to board there at the time.

"Ruth was clearly a bit of a rebel and a misfit," Snyder said.

Waiting until her mid-30s to marry — in an era when many women wed while still in their teens — is evidence of that, as well as her career in engineering.

"She just was an independent-minded woman."

Ruth's boxes were filled with wedding invitations and baby announcements from friends, but "she was having none of it," Snyder said. "She was always a little bit different."

Snyder recently went to The Ogontz School archives to do more research.

Ogontz was known for its military drills, and one of Ruth's possessions is a large photo showing rows of marching schoolgirls.

There was a rumor that German dictator Adolf Hitler wrote a letter to Ogontz complimenting the institution on its "rigorous drills," Snyder said. When Hitler became the scourge of Europe, the letter was said to have disappeared.

Amelia Earhart was an alumna of The Ogontz School, and the world-famous aviator visited there twice when Ruth was enrolled — Nov. 15, 1933, and March 18, 1936, Snyder said.

Ruth graduated from Ogontz Junior College and attended Ursinus College for a year. She then transferred to Brenau Women's College in Gainesville, Ga., where she earned a chemistry degree in 1948.

Ruth then went to work for RCA in Lancaster.

Before marrying Solomon Lasof, whom she met at RCA, Ruth took two trips to Europe alone in the 1950s, both of which are memorialized in scrapbooks. During the latter trek, she traveled to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Belgium.

Her passport described Ruth as 5 feet 6 1/2 inches — tall for a woman in those days — with blond hair and green eyes. And she was thin, Snyder said.

Her first European trip was in 1952, at the age 27. A single woman taking two months off from her job for a foreign excursion was a "renegade" in those days, she said.

Ruth's strength and independence really resonate with her, Snyder said.

"She was an adventurer."

'Momma's house'
Ruth was employed at RCA from 1948-1973, where she was an engineering technician, and then worked for ISC/Ferranti.

Snyder isn't certain when Ruth retired, but her husband retired in 1989. They continued to travel and enjoyed attending plays and concerts — judging by the playbills Ruth collected — at places like the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia and the Green Room Theatre at Franklin & Marshall College.

They appeared to have a happy marriage. "Sol wrote her poems," Snyder said.

The Lasofs were wed 41 years when he died in 2003.

Snyder said there's not much record of Ruth's interaction with her mother, Marie, when she was growing up, but that changed after her father passed away in 1944. They began traveling together "and clearly developed a close relationship," Snyder said.

"She always called this 'Momma's house.' "

And it was evident her mother took pride in Ruth's accomplishments, Snyder said.

Danny Whittle, who's lived with his wife, Nancy, in the 600 block of West Walnut Street since 2006, said Ruth "was our No. 1 neighbor." She was among the first people to welcome the Whittles when they moved in, he said.

Whittle, who said he may have been like a son to her, described Ruth as an "amazingly sweet" woman.

She mostly maintained the house and grounds herself — including garden upkeep, lawn mowing and bush trimming — but Whittle did shovel snow off her front sidewalk and perform a few repairs.

He said the time-capsule feel of the residence reminded him of a "museum house" he once visited in Burlington, Vt.

In fact, Whittle negotiated with the Salvation Army to buy the 1930s Chambers flameless cookstove that had been in Ruth's kitchen.

Jerry Greiner and Susan Shearer lived next to the house from 1987-1995.

For the first two years, Ruth's mother was still alive, but they didn't see her much because she was mostly indoors, Greiner said.

The couple, however, got to know Ruth and her husband pretty well.

"She was very intelligent," he said, "and would engage in any conversation."

Ruth "was very friendly," Shearer agreed. "We would talk for ages with her."

They sometimes heard shuffling sounds next-door, even when Ruth wasn't there, Greiner said. When they asked her about the noises, she didn't scoff, but said that her mother's spirit was still around, he remembered.

Shearer said the couple would peer in the window of Ruth's house and be amazed at the old kitchen. The home, she said, was "almost like a shrine."

Ruth's legacy
Current neighbor Pat Brogan knew Ruth for years and was surprised she never moved into the house.

During the time they were acquainted, Ruth also gave no indication she would sell the home. Brogan said someone was once interested in the property, and Ruth "thought [for] half a second" before declining.

"She never talked about her family, except her mom," said Brogan, who described Ruth as quirky. "She was probably a genius."

After Ruth's death, which was ruled a suicide, Brogan said she went to the Salvation Army to purchase some of her old school books, which were incredibly well preserved.

Ruth was a dog lover who developed a special relationship with Brogan's Wheaten terrier, Phoebe, and cocker spaniel, Sammy.

Melanie Snyder said Ruth had pet dogs as a little girl. They included a Jack Russell terrier, Buster. Later, as a single woman in her 20s, she owned a cocker spaniel named Princess.

The $860,000 bequest Ruth left to the service dogs program at United Disabilities Services was the largest single gift the nonprofit agency ever received.

Jill Harris, program manager of UDS Service Dogs, said Ruth "was one of the nicest ladies I ever met."

While Ruth attended some training sessions and enjoyed handling the puppies, Harris said the bequest was "a total surprise" to her.

Each service dog costs $20,000-$25,000 to train, and UDS only charges $5,000, so money needs to come from elsewhere to make up the difference, she said. The dogs help people with disabilities live more independently by performing tasks for them.

In this environment of state budget cuts, "I don't know how much longer we would've kept functioning" without Ruth's gift, Harris said.

UDS' chief communications and development officer, Cindy Davidson, said in an email that Ruth's bequest was put in an endowment that, along with other donations, "will help sustain our service dog program for years to come."

Contact Sunday News staff writer Paula Wolf at pwolf@lnpnews.com.