The Joy of Life slipped away from Ruthmary Zupan McIlhenny on Thursday, March 19 at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. She was there to be evaluated for a heart transplant to address decreasing heart function caused in 2013 by chemotherapy for breast cancer. Her long battle with decreasing heart function ended peacefully with members of her family at her side. She was 72.
Born on November 23, 1953 in Chicago and raised in the Chicagoland area, she was the eldest daughter of the late Frank Zupan and Ruthmary Zupan Westermeier, aged 93 now of Wisconsin.
Ruthmary earned three undergraduate degrees, an MA, and a Pennsylvania teaching certificate in Secondary Language Arts and English as a Second Language. She lived in Pennsylvania for more than 35 years.
Ruthmary served her community both professionally and personally.
Professionally as: A teacher with the Migrant Summer School of Excellence, the York Technical Institute, Lincoln Intermediate Unit #12, and Harrisburg Area Community College. She was Training Manager at two manufacturing companies in Adams County and oversaw an afterschool program at Gettysburg Middle School and El Centro. She was the Community Club Awards Director and Community Director for the Adams County Community Foundation. As program director for Typical Life Corporation, she orchestrated a program of community involvement and life skills for adults with intellectual disabilities.
Honors and service: She was a tutor for both Adams and York County Literacy Councils. She tutored inmates in ESL & GED and job finding skills in York Prison, served on Healthy Adams County Task Force, was a past executive director of Adams County United Way, a founding member of ‘A Women’s Purse’ and VAN (Volunteer Administration Network), and a member of the Volunteer Center Advisory Board.
Ruthmary was an active volunteer with the Adams County Arts Council, the Give it Up for Good event, the Land Conservancy of Adams County, Historic Gettysburg-Adams County Preservation Society (HGAC), Youth Provider Network, and the National Park Service where she volunteered at the Eisenhower Historic Site since 1990. She was a mentor for Business Education Partnership, and past board member of the Adams County Red Cross, YWCA, and Hanover Area Human Resources Association, past chair of the Chamber of Commerce Membership Committee, and served as Vice President and chair of the Membership Committee of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Society. She was a recipient of the Heart in Hand Award, named Adams County’s Volunteer of the Year, and received the National Points of Lights Award and the Legacy of a Lifetime Callie Award. As Vice President of the ARC of Adams County, she oversaw the merger of the ARC of York and Adams Counties.
Ruthmary will be remembered by many for her historic interpretation of Mamie Eisenhower as she portrayed Mamie’s life with IKE.
Ruthmary is survived by her husband of 33 years, Robert B. “Mac” McIlhenny; and three sisters: Kim Hurt and her husband Doug, Amy Munier and her husband Scott, and Heidi Hines (married to the late Charles Hines). She is also survived by her step-son Andrew McIlhenny, his wife Amy and their children Ava and Asher (“The A Team”) of Edmund, OK, and many nieces and nephews who were very dear to her.
Ruthmary arranged for her body to be donated to Temple University Medical School. To honor Ruthmary’s wishes, there will be no funeral or memorial celebration.
Memories and condolences may be shared at www.monahanfuneralhome.com or by mail to Bob McIlhenny at 1370 Old Harrisburg Rd. Gettysburg, PA 17325. All messages received will be collected and forwarded to Ruthmary’s Mother and then along to other family members.
Please remember Ruthmary in your own way or with a gift in lieu of flowers to: the Dwight D. Eisenhower Society, the ARC of York and Adams Counties, the Adams County Library, Historic Gettysburg-Adams County Preservation Society (HGAC), or the Land Conservancy of Adams County.
Ruthmary loved to cook and entertain friends and family at her gas station home. She will be deeply missed and remembered by Mac as his ‘First Lady’ and by anyone whose life was touched by her energy and joy of life.