GOGEL, Ruth Helene

Ruth Helene Gogel passed away on March 18, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.

She was born on August 2, 1927 in Toledo, Ohio. Ruth was the daughter of William F. and Helene (Menold) Gogel. She graduated from the University of Toledo in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science and in 1950 with a Masters in Biology. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and supported the organization throughout her lifetime. Ruth worked for the Toledo-area Sanitation District following graduation and specialized in mosquito control. She eventually relocated from Toledo to Atlanta, Georgia in 1954 where she secured a job with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ruth retired from the CDC in 1988 after a distinguished thirty-four-year career where she was regarded as a mosquito expert and credited with improving the CDC’s process for insect collection.

Following her career in science, Ruth immersed herself fully in the arts. She was a decorated and accomplished photographer who was especially known for producing colorful abstracts, although she also enjoyed pastel, collage, and silk screening (serigraphy). Ruth enjoyed discovering and encouraging new and emerging artists. She cultivated many deep and meaningful relationships with other local artists at the Artists Atelier of Atlanta and Atlanta Artists Center where she toiled on many annual traveling art shows for the Fulton County Library system as well as South Cobb Artists Alliance. She also served on the Board of Georgia Artists Network where she worked to establish an art gallery featured during the 1996 Olympics. Ruth’s love of life, drive to create beauty, and her desire to help others was her life’s missions. She was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta where she served on countless committees including as Chairperson of the Art Committee for thirty-one years and a term as VicePresident of the Congregation. Ruth was active with integrated groups during the Civil Rights movement including HOPE (Help Our Public Education). Ruth was a prolific philanthropist and served actively with the League of Women Voters, Partnership Against Domestic Violence, Meals on Wheels, volunteered with AIDS patients, and was a Board Member and newsletter editor for the American Association of University Women.

An early conservationist, Ruth was a Charter Member of the Georgia Conservancy. She loved traveling and exploring throughout the state and instilling her love of the outdoors, history, and the flora and fauna of Georgia in others. She loved traveling internationally as well. Memorable trips included visits to Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Belize and Guatemala to explore archeological ruins. Ruth loved bird watching and took many trips with the Atlanta Audubon Society. Ruth had a sense of humor and loved telling stories of her many adventures in an attempt to “obliterate other people’s boredom or their constant chatter about politics which she abhorred.”

In her later years, Ruth moved from her Buckhead home to becoming a proud and active resident of Clairmont Place where she enjoyed making new friends and taking part in numerous special events and serving on the Art Committee. She enjoyed playing bingo, working jigsaw puzzles, playing Rummikub, and listening to musical entertainment.

Ruth is preceded in death by her parents and her sister Mildred Jean Wynn. Ruth is survived by four nieces and nephews, Rachel Levens of San Diego, California, Christopher Wynn of Mt. Vernon, New York, Rebecca (Jess) Crockford of Hutchinson, Kansas, and Matthew (Heather Buyers) of Hartsdale, New York; and numerous great and great-great beloved nieces and nephews.

Ruth will be known and remembered for her “go-get-‘em” energetic personality, caring nature, and generosity as well as her inspiring sense of wonder and curiosity.

Ruth Gogel’s artwork is in the permanent collections of Georgia Tech; Contel Corporation; Brand Bank in Buford; Emory Oral Surgery Clinic; Clayton Arts Alliance, College Park; Art Station, Stone Mountain; State of Georgia Art Collection; South Cobb Arts Alliance, Cultural Arts Council, Douglasville, and the John Marlor Arts Center, Milledgeville, Georgia. A memorial for Ruth will be held pending scheduling at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta later this fall. Her cremains will be inurned in Toledo, Ohio.