Patricia Ann Ruf, 62, passed peacefully to her heavenly reward Sunday, May 30, 2010, after a long illness. She was under the care of family members and Hospice Savannah Inc. at home until the end.
She was preceded in death by her father, Charles P. Brown, formerly of Atlanta, Ga., and her brother, Terry Williams (Bernice) , formerly of Pinehurst.
Born to Charles P. and Alva MacDonald Brown on Oct. 9, 1947, in Pinehurst, she grew up in Atlanta and Smyrna, Ga., and graduated with honors from Osborne High School. Though she was offered a scholarship to Duke University School of Nursing, she opted to stay closer to home, and like her sister, graduated from Grady Hospital School of Nursing (1968). It was in the Grady E.R. that she met her future husband (1969). Two years later she boarded a plane for the first time, flying 10,000 miles to be married in Taipei, Taiwan (1971). Upon return to the U.S. (1974), she became the head nurse of the University of Kansas Renal Dialysis Unit. When residency advancement moved her husband to the Medical University of South Carolina (1976), she became a charge nurse in the Burn Unit before helping to start the medical center’s ambulatory surgery center. Upon arrival in Savannah, Ga. (1980), she worked in her husband’s office for 10 years before “retiring” to manage the family and raise the children. In the process, she was PTO president at both St. James Catholic School and Benedictine Military School, teacher substitute at St. James and St. Vincent’s Academy, St. James Catholic School nurse, and volunteered for the lunch room and any other need that the three schools had. Though raised Baptist, she chose to convert to Roman Catholicism while in Taiwan. She had been a communicant of St. James Catholic Church in Savannah for over 20 years. She served as president of the Georgia Medical Society (Chatham County) Auxiliary and for several years played the role of Octopuffy in a program to educate children of the disastrous consequences of smoking. She had a passion for reading, but she when lost her sight, the Savannah Association for the Blind helped with audio books and other support.
She was a sensitive, kindhearted, loving person who would help anyone she saw in need. She never met a stranger and was always teased that she “would talk to a post.” Her life was dedicated to the service of others as a nurse, a mother, a grandmother, and a friend to so many. But oh, how she loved her children and grandchildren, who kept her motivated these last few years.
She is survived in death by her loving husband of almost 39 years, Dr. Lawrence E. Ruf, of Savannah, Ga.; daughter, Emily J. Elmore (Rives), of Acworth, Ga.; son, Michael P. Ruf, of Savannah, Ga.; daughter, Holly E. Jones (Mark), of Eatonton, Ga.; mother, Alva MacDonald Brown, of Atlanta, Ga.; granddaughter, Ansley E. Elmore; grandsons, Logan R. Elmore and Peyton M. Jones; sister, A. Jeannine Peevy (Wilton), of Atlanta, Ga.; brothers, Kirt Williams, of Hayworth Ill., Mac Williams, of Carthage, and Charles W. Brown, of Atlanta, Ga.; brother-in-law, John D. Ruf (Marie); sister-in-law, Jeanne Muntan (Charles), Rosemary Kirtley (Cecil) and Linda Knabel (Ed), all of Louisville Ky., as well as many nieces and nephews.
Memorial visitation is at Fox and Weeks Funeral Directors, Hodgson Chapel from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 4, with a rosary following.
A memorial Mass will be held at St. James Catholic Church Saturday, June 5, at 12:30 p.m.
Remembrances: Hospice Savannah, P.O. Box 13190, Savannah, GA 31416. Please sign the online guestbook at www.foxandweeks.com
Fox and Weeks Funeral Directors, Hodgson Chapel, Savannah, Ga.