Visitation: No prior visitation.
Service: A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. March 1 at the Garret Club. March 1, 1922 – Jan. 6, 2015

Ruth Dold Killeen, an accomplished pianist and singer, died on Jan. 6 at Hospice Buffalo’s inpatient facility after battling leukemia for several years. She was 92.

Mrs. Killeen taught piano and was sought after for her lively cabaret singing style, with a repertoire ranging from standards to novelty numbers, all of which she performed from memory. She entertained frequently at public and private social gatherings. She entertained as recently as Christmas, when she played for her family. Two YouTube tributes of her have been posted since her death.

A lifelong Buffalo resident, Mrs. Killeen was the widow of Henry W. Killeen, Jr., an assistant United States attorney. He died in 1984.

Subsequently she married former Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra concertmaster Joseph Wincenc, who died in 2003.

Mrs. Killeen was the second daughter of Paul Dold and his wife, Florence Talley Dold Smith. At the time of her birth, her family’s business, the Jacob Dold Meat Packing Company, was one of the largest meat packing companies in the country. In her later years, Mrs. Killeen would tell stories about the mile-long slaughterhouses the family owned on William Street, and of watching horse-drawn cutter races from the porch of her parents’ Richmond Avenue home.

She was one of the oldest living graduates of Buffalo Seminary and served for many years as a trustee of the school.

Mrs. Killeen spent a year at Hood College in Frederick, Md. Returning to Buffalo, she worked before her marriage as a copywriter for the Buffalo Courier-Express.

She and her first husband lived for many years on Highland Avenue. They were active participants in Buffalo society, with memberships at various times in the Buffalo Club, the Saturn Club, the Garret Club, the Buffalo Canoe Club and the Cherry Hill Club. The Killeens were involved with Westminster Presbyterian Church, and in her later years Mrs. Killeen became active in Trinity Episcopal Church.

She was also active in charitable and community service, volunteering as a pianist for Roswell Park and as a reader for the blind. A gifted athlete, she enjoyed golf and tennis. She also had a lifelong passion for theater and music.

At the time of her death, Mrs. Killeen was a resident of Canterbury Woods in Williamsville. Before moving there, she lived for many years at 1088 Delaware Ave.

She is survived by a son, Henry W. Killeen, III; and two daughters, Ruth Killeen Mullen and Katherine Killeen Ashton; and six grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. March 1 at the Garret Club.

– Mary Kunz
Arrangements by The Dietrich Funeral Homes, Inc.