Ruth Marie Wagschal Mengers, 94, born in Greenville, PA on January 9,1932, died at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Joy and David Smith in Carbondale, PA, on April 29, 2026.

Ruth graduated as Valedictorian from Rhinebeck High School in NY in1949, married Gerhardt Mengers (deceased in 2008) on August 23, 1952 and received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Dana College in Nebraska in 1953. She had her first child weeks after graduation and always said she used her degree every day of her life. She lost a son, David, at birth, and an infant daughter, Rebecca, from SIDS, but is survived by five children and their spouses: Joy (David); David (Maria Elena) Mengers; Amy (Eugene) Walters; Timothy (Smita) Mengers; Heidi (Richard) Ferguson; 11 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren and 5 great great grandchildren, as well as her older sister Lois Fitch and her sister-in-law Susan Mengers. A host of foreign exchange students called her Mom; she maintained lifelong contact with Maria Larre Borges (Uruguay), Michele Graziadei (Italy), Agnes Sevestre (France), and Khumo Radebe Morolo (South Africa) and Edith Campanesi (France/Germany) who preceded Ruth in death.

A PK (preacher’s kid), Ruth had married a teacher and was reluctant to become a minister’s wife, again living in parsonages. But, as she did all her life, she accepted, adjusted and made her way forward. She worked as a part-time librarian while her husband went to seminary. Later she babysat in her home. She easily enfolded her children and their friends into the family’s life, always with room for another one.

She was an avid reader, enjoyed family camping vacations across the country, and was skilled at handcrafts including knitting, basket weaving and sewing. She made her daughters’ wedding dresses. She always balanced her checkbook to the penny. For years she mailed The Wee Weekly family letter typed on onionskin paper with carbon paper between sheets, later shifting to a monthly letter sent via computer. She canned pickles, baked rye bread, and at Christmastime made hardtack candy and chocolates. To generations of her family, she was the Canasta Queen.

Ruth was a homebody. After her husband’s death, she proudly called herself a hermit who equally enjoyed having visitors, and being alone when they left. On her own, she knitted while watching old TV shows and movies, especially musicals. She loved having a dog in her life, from Ming Toy when she married, ending with Ven. She was usually unflappable, often quietly stubborn, and ever practical about life and death, eventually accepting her growing memory issues, simply saying, “I can’t remember things,”

Living in Ohio most of her life, she moved to Maryland with her son and daughter-in-law Tim and Smita when her health worsened. For nearly five years they provided for her until April 1 when she and Ven moved to Pennsylvania.

She was beloved by many including her Maryland caregivers Keni, Laura, Yeny, Mayerlin, and Sule. The family thanks them, Frederick Health Hospice of Maryland, Hospice of the Sacred Heart, Dunmore, and friend/caregiver Lynnae White who was with her when she died. She donated her body through Humanities Gift Registry with the aid of Parise Funeral Home in Carbondale, PA, to become a “silent teacher” at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at Calvary Lutheran Church in Chillicothe, Ohio on June 6, 2026 at 1:30 p.m.

Memorial donations can be sent to Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio, the MagicYarnProject.com or a charity of your choice.