Patricia "Patti" A Ruth
Our beloved Patricia
Ann “Patti” Ruth passed away on Wednesday, October 27, 2021 at Hope Hospice in Fort Myers, Florida. Chuck Kercsmar, her husband of 31 years, was at her bedside. She was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to James and Bernie Ruth on February 27, 1959. Patti was a graduate of Saucon Valley High School, Shippensburg University where she was a diver on the swim team and Moravian College
Patti and Chuck lived in Hellertown, Pennsylvania until retirement in 2015 when they moved to Fort Myers. Their home in Hellertown served as “party-central” for a large group of friends and family nearly every holiday and many special occasions over the years.
Patti had several career changes in her life. She worked for the Greif Company, a men’s tailored clothing enterprise, as Director of Purchasing. She then did a brief stint as a Sales Representative for Elandale
Golf Clothing. Thereafter Patti worked for Avantor/ Mallinckrodt-Baker, a chemical company, in Product Management. While at Mallinckrodt-Baker Patti successfully completed Six Sigma certification, a prestigious business management achievement.
In Patti’s spare time she served as a volunteer at the Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue (DVGRR). After moving to Florida Patti acquired her realtor license and joined Darrel Baker at Coastal Living Realty,
Inc. In all her pursuits Patti was thorough, dedicated and committed to excellence. Patti and Chuck loved dogs and parented twelve dogs during their marriage, nine of which were rescues. Patti enjoyed golf, playing regularly and even scoring a hole-in-one in 2004 on her
home course at Silver Creek Country Club.
Patti fought a 3-year battle with cancer. During this period, Patti underwent a stem cell transplant; her brother, Jim Ruth, served as the donor for which Patti remained extremely grateful. Patti is survived by her husband Chuck Kercsmar who misses her dearly, her brother
Jim Ruth (Susan), niece Katie Ruth, step-sons Michael Kercsmar (Janice) and Geoffrey Kercsmar (Carrie), and step-grandchildren Jenson, Sophie, Elisabeth, Julia,
Marcus, Christian, Andrew, and Grace.
In lieu of flowers please donate to the Golden Retriever Rescue of Southwest Florida (https://grrswfl.rescuegroups.org) or any charity of your choice. Also please consider donating a pint of blood or platelets in Patti’s honor as she was the recipient of many in her fight to
stay with us.
Celebrations of Life for Patti will be held here in Fort Myers as well as in the Lehigh Valley. Details will be placed on Patti’s Facebook page.