GROTON - Ruth L. (Ludden) Beard, 94, a member of the Christian Union Church, died yesterday, Dec. 15, at Nashoba Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. She was the wife of William J. Beard Sr., who died in 1990.She was born in Jay, Maine, on June 6, 1908, a daughter of the late Daniel L. and Etta Eva (Waite) Ludden. She had lived in Groton since she was three, and graduated from Groton High School. She also attended the Burbank Hospital School of Nursing.Mrs. Beard had been a member of the Christian Union Church in West Groton for more than 50 years, where she was a Sunday school teacher and a member of the Ladies Aid Society.Survivors include her children, William J. Beard Jr. and his wife, Cynthia, of West Groton, Lois J. Soule and her husband, Donald W., of Littleton, and Pat Kilbreth of Ayer, six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.