The Rev. Dr. Ruth Dimock Walsh LTCOL, USMC (Ret.)

Ruth Dimock Walsh, 79, of Manassas, Virginia, beloved mother, grandmother and friend, passed away peacefully at Virginia Hospital Center with her daughter by her side on Thursday, January 21, 2021. Ruth crossed over into heaven due to complications from COVID.

Ruth was born May 23, 1941 in Greenwich, Connecticut to a proud southerner from Kentucky, Mabel Ruth Coates Walsh, who was a Latin teacher, and a first generation Irish-American from New York, Thomas James Boniface Walsh, who was a publisher. She and her late brother, Thomas Jackson Coates Walsh grew up mainly in Yonkers, NY before moving to the suburbs in her teen years to Ridgewood, NJ where she enjoyed ballet, performing in summer stock dramatic productions and enjoying ice cream sundaes with her best friend, Valerie Shafer Deatte. Ruth went by “Peggy” as her nickname then.

To begin her first career, Ruth moved to New York City shortly after high school graduation where she was part of the ensemble of the New York Ballet. Once riding the subway, she saw a Marine Corps recruiting poster which advertised paid college education and she liked their uniform. She enlisted as a private in the Marine Corps in 1960, and thus began her second career. She had many accomplishments which started in MC Basic Training (boot camp), such as carrying the flag during marches and she continued to have a good work ethic instilled with tasks such as scrubbing bathroom floors with a toothbrush. Ruth enjoyed sharing her experience to help recruit more Women Marines and was featured in numerous recruiting efforts for the Marine Corps including Miss Marine Corps in 1960 and several recruiting posters and magazine features.

Ruth's abilities were recognized early and she was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of the Navy. Her accomplishments there resulted in her selection to lead the administrative support staff to the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission. Shortly thereafter, she had the distinction of being the first (and possibly only) woman Marine to be directly commissioned a Second Lieutenant without completing Officer Candidate School. After Officer Basic Training she attended Administrative Officer School at Parris Island, SC, which prepared her for her various assignments in administrative support.

Ruth met her husband, Wilfred (Bill) Woidyla, another mustang (formerly enlisted Marine) at Quantico, Virginia. She would later share great stories of her treasured time when they were both assigned to the Presidential Marine Corps helicopter squad. During that time, she became the first woman Marine to remain on active duty after giving birth to a baby daughter, who was her pride and joy. Ruth provided administrative support in several commands and offices and worked tirelessly on several women’s advocacy issues to give a voice to important issues of equality. She was the women’s advocate to NATO as a representative of the Marine Corps and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and shortly before her retirement, she was integral in the movement for women to carry swords in the Marine Corps. Ruth’s great patriotism continued when she was recalled during Desert Storm and she served as a chaplain and support to service members in Dover, DE as they received fallen heroes. During her MC service she earned numerous awards including National Defense Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal with a Gold Star, Presidential Service badge and the Legion of Merit Award shortly before she retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1985 with a total of 25 years of service.

Ruth started her third career in the late 1980s when she received the call from the Holy Spirit to become an Episcopal priest. She attended seminary and was ordained in 1992. She served in various Episcopal churches in the northern Virginia area. Using her crisis management talents, she frequently would come into churches after they had a challenge to help them and was described as the “Mary Poppins” of priests. She later went on to work with the elderly doing clinical pastoral support. She sat with so many families and their loved ones as they transitioned into heaven from earth. Ruth also became a Certified Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor in 2008 and went on to teach Clinical Pastoral Education to priests, chaplains and professional caregivers to help them give their best spiritual support to those in great need at their end of life.

Ruth also remained involved in volunteering by supporting other women in the military with numerous advocacy groups, including being at the grass roots level for the creation of the Women in Military Service memorial outside of Arlington National Cemetery. Ruth began an online doctorate program in Psychology with a concentration of Logotherapy (hope based psychology) and hoped to use it to support Veterans with PTSD. Ruth was known as very genuine and caring. After Ruth’s final “paying” job, Ruth’s call to serve took on the role of full time “Nana'' duties to her two grandchildren.

Ruth was a lifelong learner. After graduating from Ridgewood High School, Ruth spent over 20 years balancing her career and college night school to earn her Bachelor’s degree from American University in Psychology. She later attained a Masters of Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary at age 50, finally earning a Doctorate in Psychology from the Graduate Theological Foundation shortly before her 75th birthday.

Ruth was married for 16 years to the late Bill Woidyla and they remained friends after their divorce in the mid-1980s until his passing in 2003. Ruth is survived by her daughter, Julia Ruth Vaughn, son-in-law Patrick Vaughn from Manassas, VA and their children Alexandra “Allie” Grace Vaughn and William Joseph Vaughn. Ruth stayed connected with her step-daughters Debra Anne Woidyla Barham and Jeanette Woidyla-Zodrow and enjoyed seeing their families grow, particularly sharing pictures on social media. Ruth was also well loved and remained connected with numerous nieces and nephews from Bill’s family and was very close with her son-in-law’s family. Ruth valued the power of friendship and has so many dear friends. Some of her closest friends go back more than 50 years.

Ruth loved animals and enjoyed the companionship of numerous pets, both great and small during her life. Ruth’s beloved Maltese poodle mix “Nana” was her closest companion over the last year.

Visitation will occur on Saturday, January 30, 2021 from 5-7pm at Demaine Funeral Home, 5308 Backlick Road, Springfield, VA 22151. Due to COVID restrictions, they will also live stream the visitation on their Facebook live feed with comments made by the family at 5:30. Ruth’s memorial service will occur at St. James Episcopal Church in Mt. Vernon, VA shortly before her interment at Arlington Cemetery. These will take place at a later date when Arlington is ready for her.

Memorial donations are encouraged to do more great work in causes which were near and dear to Ruth’s heart. Specifically, the ASPCA www.aspca.org to care for pets and the Semper Fi & America’s Fund www.semperfifund.org to help veterans and their families in times of need. Thank you to the hundreds of people who served with Ruth, in all chapters and ways in her life.

Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians