Sister Ruth Stahl, S.S.N.D., who was a school teacher and principal in three states for nearly 50 years, died at Lourdes Health Care Center in Wilton, Conn, May 5. She was 82 and had been a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame for 61 years.

Born in Irvington, N.J., she entered the order in 1948 and as a novice was given the religious name Mary Melina. She pronounced her first vows in 1951 and her final vows in 1957. She resumed using her baptismal name, Ruth, years later.

Her only local assignment in the Diocese of Brooklyn was as principal of St. Matthias School, Ridgewood, 1981-87.

A Mass of Christian burial was held May 8, at the Chapel at Villa Notre Dame, Wilton. Burial followed at St. Mary Cemetery in Bethel, Conn.