Joan W. Ruff of East Norwich, died at the age of 82 on November 20, 2012. She was born and raised in Bayside, NY.
She was the secretary of her senior class at Bayside High School. She graduated in three years.
In her 20s she worked for NY Telephone as an executive. She also represented the company at the introduction to the iconic Princess phone as the original “princess.”
She and her late husband John Ruff Jr. lived for 50 years on Locust Avenue in East Norwich. They enjoyed a great relationship with their neighbors and the resident peacock, “Beauty” who lived in the Muttontown Preserve.
She carried on with the business her husband started, Oakland Supply Company, after his death. Although in her earlier years she flew a plane and logged many hours, she never drove a car.
Joan was a former superintendent of the Sunday School at Wesley United Methodist Church and a volunteer tour guide and naturalist at the Muttontown Preserve.
A girl scout herself, Ms. Ruff was a Girl Scout troop leader for many years. Her Brownie certificate is dated February 1940 and her Girl Scout card from Troop Number 4-28 is dated December, 1940.
Most recently, she was a resident at Oyster Bay Manor, Oyster Bay. She is survived by her daughter Janet, and her husband John Barone and their daughters Lauren and Suzanne. She will be fondly remembered by all those people whose lives she touched.
Visitation was at the M. A. Connell Funeral Home Inc., Huntington Station, on Sunday, Nov. 18. Interment was at the Brookville Cemetery, Brookville.
Donations in her memory can be made to: The Arthritis Foundation / Programs; 501 Walt Whitman Rd. Melville, New York 11747.
