Gail Ruef

Gail Ruef

Gail Ann Ruef, of Florence, KY, passed away February 26, 2022, at the age of 75, at St. Elizabeth, Florence after a life-long debilitating illness.

When Gail was a child, she attended Florence Christian Church and participated in the Youth Group activities.  She was a Girl Scout during grade school.  Gail graduated from Boone County High School, and claimed both classes 1964 and 1965 (because her illness kept her from attending several required classes she needed to graduate with the class she began with).  She received her Associate Degree from the Ohio College of Applied Science (OCAS).  She worked for a short period of time for Children’s Hospital.

Her interests included gathering family history and china painting.  She was a Life Member of Florence Eastern Star Lodge, a member of Dixie Porcelain Painters and was past President of the World Order of China Painters in Kentucky, and briefly belonged to Boone County Visual Arts Association.

Although she was severely disabled nearly all of her life, she enjoyed life, and filled that life with the activities she loved most – drawing and painting, shopping at thrift stores, listening to old TV Westerns, and living with and next door to those she loved best.

Gail was preceded in death by her parents, Elmer and Hortense “Sis” Ruef; and sister, Betsy R. Conrad.

Survivors include her brother-in-law, Steve Conrad, her nephews and niece, Danny (Missy) Conrad, Debbie Conrad and David Conrad; and great niece and great nephews, Phoebe Conrad, Alex Wergers and Christian Wergers.

Services are private and at the convenience of the family.  Interment in Hopeful Lutheran Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (cincinnatichildrens.org).