Patricia F. Ruhl

Patricia Forshay Ruhl, a beloved wife, mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, and friend to many, left us on June 26, 2021. Pat was married to her lifelong love Garrett E. Ruhl of Oakton, Virginia. They were married on May 15, 1971 at the Herrmann Hall Chapel of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and celebrated 50 years of marriage. She is survived by Garrett, their two children--Henry Ruhl of Capitola, California, married to Stephanie Ruhl, and Amy Parker Ruhl of Washington, DC, married to Kosta Stojilkovic--and two grandchildren, Divna and Branko.

Pat was born in Hackensack and raised in northern New Jersey. Her father Henry Forshay worked at Mobil and her mother Mildred Forshay worked as a registered nurse. She grew up with her sister Beatrice, played the drums in the marching band, and graduated from Watchung Hills Regional High School. She went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in physical education at West Virginia Wesleyan College, where she was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.

Pat moved to California in the late 1960s after attending sister Bea’s wedding there to Lloyd Smith. In California, Pat worked as a physical education teacher at Claremont High School, where she also coached gymnastics and dance teams. She met Garrett at a pool by her sister Bea’s apartment in Monterey while he was attending the Defense Language Institute nearby. They soon moved to Lawrence, Kansas to attend the University of Kansas, where they both received masters degrees: Pat in Physical Education and Garrett in Soviet Area Studies. During her studies Pat also coached the University of Kansas nationally-competitive women’s gymnastics team.

Garrett was then stationed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany and studied at the U.S. Army Russia Institute. Pat accompanied him and taught physical education. Henry was born in Garmisch in 1973. The family established many long-term friends during their time in Germany. They moved to Vienna, Virginia in 1974. In 1978, they moved to Oakton, Virginia, where Amy was born and Garrett still resides having retired as a Colonel in the US Army.

In Oakton in the 1980s, Pat was an active member of the Vale Club, a group dedicated to enriching the lives of women, based at the historic Vale Schoolhouse near the family home. She was also an active member of the Vale Methodist Church. She continued to coach gymnastics and teach, and she enjoyed hands-on projects. Her engaging and active personality brought many creative and gratifying activities into the lives of her family, including painting, woodworking, travelling, and fishing. Above all, she was a fun-loving mother and caring wife.

She will be inurned at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. The family has established a fund in her honor to support mental health education in medical training at the University of Virginia, the Patricia F. and Garrett E. Ruhl Psychiatry Award Fund (see: http://get-involved.uvahealth.com/goto/RuhlFund).