Ruth M. Carl
Ruth M. Carl, recently of Chestnut Knoll Memory Care in Boyertown, was born in Fort Wayne, IN, in 1925. She was the middle child of Marybell (Jackson) and Thomas Alfred Henry. She had one older sister, Lois now deceased and one younger brother Thomas who is also deceased. In 1943 she graduated from South Side High School.
She is an ancestor (4th generation great granddaughter) of Revolutionary War Patriots, Abigail Hartman Rice and Zachariah Rice, of Yellow Springs, PA. The Rice’s and Hartman’s built the first Continental Army Hospital to treat sick soldiers from the Valley Forge Encampment.
In 1945, she met her husband Robert W. Carl. They married on July 26, 1946 and moved to Altoona, PA. Robert worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad. Together, they ran a “mom and pop” confectionery store, Carl’s Dairy Store (Pero’s Ice Cream), for 35 years. Bob and Ruth were partners in a TV and appliance store called Save on Appliance Center and later Coral, Wolfe, and Carl Appliance Center. Robert transferred to Paoli in 1955 and he eventually worked for Conrail for the next 27 years. During this time, Ruth ran the store and raised their two daughters in Altoona. Robert was killed in a car accident in 1982. Ruth continued to run the store until 1985 at which time she moved to the Pottstown area.
Ruth has two daughters Karen Ann Weil, wife of Luther Weil of Pottstown, PA, and Mary Lou Moulder wife of Terry Moulder of Douglassville, PA, and Davenport, FL.
She has three grandchildren, Douglass M. Hauser II, husband of Kelly Freed Hauser, James Hauser, and Erik Schmid, husband of Tara Oiler Schmid.
She has five stepgrandchildren, Allison Moulder Fulmer, wife of Jeffrey Fulmer, Bethann Weil Busky, wife of Paul Busky, Keith Weil, Barbara Weil, Kathy Weil.
Ruth is great-grandmother to the following; Ethan, Cameron and Emma Hauser, Olivia, Alaina and Lila Schmid, Cole Weil, Seth and Sean Fulmer, Joseph Benyish.
In 1985, Ruth joined AARP where she learned that volunteers were needed at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center and she volunteered there for the next 20 years.
Ruth was a coordinator for the Greeters and a Eucharistic Minister at St. Aloysius Church. She was a member of the Loyal Order of Hibernians. She is a past President of the Century Club, a member of the Board and Tour Committee for AARP and has worked on library book sales and several political campaigns for her daughter, Karen Weil who was a Borough Council representative for the 2nd Ward from 19871995 and the first woman elected President of Pottstown’s Borough Council 1994-1995. As a cancer survivor, Ruth routinely walked in the American Society’s Relay for Life.
When she wasn’t volunteering this active lady was on the road literally traveling the world. She had been to Europe several times, to Russia, to Scandinavia and to China. She had cruised to Alaska, Hawaii, Panama Canal, Baltic Sea, the Yellow Sea, and cruised down the Nile. She traveled to Egypt to visit the pyramids with her daughter Mary Lou Moulder. Mary Lou, is a noted Middle Eastern dancer, leader of a dance troop and a teacher who taught and performed for many years.
Ruth contributed thousands of hours of service to PMMC and her community. She will be missed by all who knew her.
A Funeral Mass will be celebrated in St. Aloysius R.C.C. 223 Beech St., Pottstown, PA on Tuesday April 17, 2018 at 11 A.M. A viewing will be held in the Church’s Gathering Center on Tuesday from 9:30 – 10:45 A.M. Private interment will be in Calvary Cemetery, Altoona, PA on Wednesday.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Pottstown Regional Public Library 500 East High Street, Pottstown, PA 19464.
To view obituaries or to send condolences go to www.warkertroutmanfuneralhome.com