Ruth E. Brigham, who lived in Baltimore for more than 20 years, died in her sleep Wednesday at her home in Jacobus, Pa. She was 78.

The cause of death has not been determined.

Born in Cincinnati, she was the daughter of the late Clifford Day and Gertrude Hausser Day. She studied nursing and was employed for a time by The Cincinnati Times-Star, which was absorbed by The Cincinnati Post in 1958.

Mrs. Brigham settled in Baltimore in 1960 when her husband, William H. Brigham Jr., a Navy veteran, took a job with the Social Security Administration. The family lived on St. Gemma Road in West Baltimore and were members of St. William of York Catholic Church on Cooks Lane. They remained in the city until Mr. Brigham's retirement in 1980, after which they moved to York, Pa.

Mrs. Brigham re-entered the work force as a waitress in York, followed by a position as a rural mail carrier in the Spring Grove, Pa., area, a job she held until her retirement in 1994. After a 48-year marriage, Mr. Brigham died in March 2005.

Her son, William H. Brigham III of Jacobus, said Mrs. Brigham enjoyed bowling, and recently was in a league that played weekly at Suburban Lanes in York. She also ice-skated, practiced yoga and worked with a personal fitness trainer. She also loved to write, and shared tales of family happenings, in what her son said was beautiful prose, with a long list of friends and relatives.

On Tuesday, her son took her to pick up a new car. "She was fine and dandy," he said. When he visited her Wednesday evening, he found her lifeless in bed.

A funeral will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 2935 Kingston Road, York. Cremation will be private.

In addition to her son, Mrs. Brigham is survived by three daughters, Paula A. Lewis of Port St. Lucie, Fla., Maura S. Brigham of Danville, Pa., and Sandra M. Leoffelholz of York; two sisters, Alice Underwood of Myrtle Beach, S.C., and G. Mary Anna Ambrosius of Cincinnati; and six grandchildren.