Obituary of Catherine L. Ruoff

Catherine (“Katie”) L. Ruoff, 91, of Williston Park, New York, passed away peacefully on December 20th, 2022, surrounded by her loving family. She will be sorely missed.  Katie was a wonderful person in every way. She possessed a kind, compassionate, and gentle nature.  She was an artist who delighted in making her surroundings more beautiful.  She had a gift for harmonizing colors; she painted in various media and left behind a trove of lovely paintings. She made clothes for herself and her five daughters, sewed elegant curtains and slipcovers for her home, and, as a 4-H leader, taught sewing and other do-it-yourself skills to children.  

Katie moved to New York City from her hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, when Eastern Airlines recruited her as a stewardess, and then flew with that airline for several years before marrying Charles (“Carl”) L. Ruoff of Glendale, Queens, and starting a family that would grow over the years to include 5 daughters and one son: Colette Ruoff, Nancy Tubbs, Laura Ruoff, Bernadette Levesque, Louise Loughlin, and Carl Ruoff.   

Family was everything to Katie; her hard-work ethic and gentle encouragement of dreams is reflected in the careers of her six children: an entrepreneur, a lawyer, a nurse educator, and three doctors.  She will always be remembered for her response to any concern over how old one of her children would be by the time they finished a certain graduate school program: “Well, you’re going to be that age anyway, so you might as well have that degree when you get there.” 

Katie loved to bake; no family holiday meal was complete without her famous apple pie or award-winning cheesecake. During the years Carl spent lobstering on the Long Island Sound, Katie found many ways to prepare the black fish that he caught in his traps.  Katie enjoyed travel, real and imaginary. She had fun with her son Carl, reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy and seeing the movies together. 

In 2001, Katie retired after twenty-five years from Winthrop Hospital where she prepared birth records for the babies born there, some of whom were delivered by her daughter Louise, a delivery room nurse. Katie loved living in Williston Park; she served for years on the town’s beautification committee.  She cherished the memories of many of her neighbors who predeceased her.  She was an active member of St. Aidan’s parish for more than sixty years and a member of the Rosary Altar Society.  

Katie was preceded in death by her mother, Coletta, her father, Willard, her brothers, Willard and John, and her sister, Theresa. She is survived by her beloved husband, Carl, her six children, her eight grandchildren: Emily, Heidi, Charlotte, Noah, Conrad, Katie, Aidan, and Eli, her four sons-in-law: Allan, Rendueles, Peter, and Jimmy, her sister Rosemary, her brother David, her niece Ellen, and many other nieces, nephews, in-laws, and other members of her extended family too numerous to list. 

Katie’s life will be celebrated at a funeral mass at St. Aidan’s Church on Willis Avenue in Williston Park on Tuesday, December 27th, 2022, at 10:00 A.M. The family will receive visitors at a wake at Weigand Brothers Funeral Home on Monday, December 26th from 4:00 to 8:00 PM. A graveside service will be held after the funeral at St. Charles Cemetery in East Farmingdale.  In lieu of flowers, please consider sending a donation to the Long Island Alzheimer’s Foundation (https://www.lidementia.org/).