Ruth M. Gwiazdowski

Ruth M. Gwiazdowski, age 96, of Newark, DE, was welcomed to her final resting place on Sunday, October 23, 2022. A final tribute to one of the great generation’s finest.

Born in New York City, on December 25, 1925, she was the daughter of the late Joseph Palubin and Mary Kuntz, and sister to Henry Palubin. The family survived the Great Depression but there was nothing left to fund Ruth’s education. She subsequently signed up to be a Navy cadet nurse and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Nursing at the end of WWII. She continued her studies at Clark University and was employed as a psychiatric nurse at the Worcester State Hospital in Massachusetts. Ruth dedicated the majority of her working years to raising her children and entered the teaching profession as a junior high school science teacher.

Ruth was firmly rooted in her Catholic faith and was an active supporter of the sodality in her younger years as well as a volunteer in the St. Joseph School in Fullerton, MD. She enjoyed flower arranging, cooking, ceramics, and volunteered as a docent at the Sully Plantation when she lived in Virginia. Ruth loved the mountains and animals, swing music, dancing when she had the chance, the theater, and Chinese food. But most of all, she dedicated herself to her family and welcomed each and every new addition as her legacy continued to grow. She championed the vulnerable, man and beast, and this influenced everything she touched.

In addition to her parents, Ruth was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 67 years, Joseph J. Gwiazdowski; granddaughter, Gina Patnaik (Kapil), and daughter-in-law, Gail Gwiazdowski. She is survived by her loving children, Joseph Gwiazdowski (Elaine), Mary Ann Gladnick (Mark), and Steven Gwiazdowski (Lynne); grandchildren, Eric Gwiazdowski, Jeff Gladnick (Julie), Brian Gladnick (Lisa), Tommy Gladnick (Elizabeth), Julia Gladnick, Anna Gwiazdowski (Raunaq), Austin Gwiazdowski; and great-grandchildren, Claire, Owen, Grayson, Henry, Sydney, Joey, Daphne and Mackenzie Gladnick.

A visitation for family and friends will be held from 10 am until 11 am on Saturday, November 12, 2022 at St. John the Beloved Catholic Church, 907 Milltown Road, Wilmington, DE, where a Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 11 am. Interment will follow in Immaculate Conception Cemetery, Childs Road and Singerly Road, Elkton, MD.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ruth’s memory to St. John the Beloved School, Attn: Sharon Breznitsky, 905 Milltown Road, Wilmington, DE 19808 or online by clicking here or to Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, KS 66675-8516 or online by clicking here.