Ruth B. Smith

Ruth Smith (Pahl) “Ruthie,” of Kettering, passed away peacefully at age 92 on February 17, 2024 at Adira Rehabilitation Center in Yonkers, NY. The youngest child of Herman and Leona (Jenrich) Pahl, she grew up near Cleveland and in Dayton, graduated from Patterson Co-Op High School in 1949 and later in life from Sinclair Community College. She held a first-degree black belt in Judo, awarded in 1978 by the Kodokan Judo Institute in Tokyo, Japan. Ruth worked as a secretary at Wright-Patterson AFB, which is how she met her engineer husband John. She eventually became a full-time home maker until her children were older, upon which time she went back to doing temp work, taught self-defense courses for women at the YMCA, and attended Sinclair, earning an Associate’s degree in English. Ruth was an avid outdoorswoman, home decorator, baker, gardener, dedicated church member, and lovingly devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, auntie, and friend. A casual extended family gathering was one of her favorite social activities. Surviving her are daughter Cynthia Rafferty (Paul) of Yonkers, NY, sons John Jr (Kyoko Hoshino) of Honolulu, HI and James (DeDe) of Kettering and grandchildren Alicia, Caitriona, and Michael Rafferty, and Austin and Sommer Smith. Ruth was preceded in death by husband John of 57 years, sister Betty Bockmann, brother Robert Pahl, and daughter-in-law Diane Smith. Visitation with family will be 9-11 am on Saturday March 2nd, 2024 at Fairmont Presbyterian Church, 3705 Far Hills Ave with memorial service to follow at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, www.stjude.org. Condolences and media memories may be posted at www.flynnmemorialhome.com