To all who have shared your memories of Ruth with me, thank you.  She was my sister and my friend and I miss her so much. I am sorry that due to the pandemic, I was not allowed to meet each of you that cared about her at her funeral.  I am hoping to do so some day.  I was so surprised when I came to her graveside to find beautiful flowers sent by several of you celebrating the life you had known with her. To me, they represented caring and respect for Ruth in the part of her life that I only heard about when really good or frustrating things happened.  I was so grateful to see them but did not know where each of you were located.  Thank you for the gift you gave to her and to me in celebrating her life. God Bless you all.
Laura

A person that departs from this earth never truly leaves, for they are still alive in our hearts... Through all of us, they live on.  Ruth was surprisingly funny, thoughtful, and dedicated to her craft... we will miss her.  My condolences.

Ruth will always be remembered for her excellent judgement and her unimpeachable integrity. She was a great sounding board and not afraid to tell you that you were wrong. She was usually right. Since she worked a few steps away from me I would wander over when I needed a break and found a surprising side of Ruth. She loved whale watching and once surprised her mom and sister with a ride on a dirigible. Ruth, thank you for your friendship. You will be missed.


Ruth has been a great colleague and friend. I have had the privilege of knowing Ruth since she started with the bank many years ago. I was sadden by learning the news.
Her dedication and diligence were unmatched. She had a keen sense of sticking to her guns and not backing down when necessary which garnered my admiration.  We would always help and support each other’s team even when buried by our own work. 
I had a special relationship with Ruth given our long tenure and we always had a good laugh.
You will be missed dearly and hope you found peace.


Ruth was a wonderful colleague, always willing to share her knowledge and answering all my Trade Finance questions.   I had the privilege and opportunity to learn from Ruth, one of the best in her field during the past three years when we developed a great partnership.  Ruth was strong and stood her ground with her knowledge of the subject, but also was kind and caring.  Her work ethics were superb.  I feel blessed to have known her.  My prayers are with her family.  May well the memories celebrating her life comfort us knowing that many others are and will continue missing her too.

I was very fortunate to have met Ruth, though only recently.  I had worked on projects with her since early January but in that time I had learned of her dedication to her job and her team, and her employer.  Coming in as an outsider, I got to first see her reserved side, but was also lucky enough to have gotten closer and seen her sense of humor, very dry, and often unexpectedly coming out and making everyone laugh.  I only wish that I got to meet and know her in person, but am grateful to have known her in the time that I had, though much too short. She is greatly missed, including by this recent colleague.   Thank you, Ruth. May you rest in peace. 

I am fortunate to have worked with Ruth for many years. She was very knowledgeable in Trade Finance and willingly shared her knowledge with me. Ruth had a broad operational, risk, and compliance perspective which she applied to organize and lead her team. She truly cared for others, and could be quite gentle and supportive, while also being strong and standing up for what is right. It’s all those facets of Ruth that made her so special. I will truly miss Ruth, and will hold her in my heart and mind. 

Ruth was a wonderful colleague and friend.  Over the past 8 years we developed a close and trusting relationship.  Ruth stood her ground in order to always do what’s right but she never minded challenges to her decisions.  I had a great deal of respect for Ruth’s knowledge and ability to articulate her reasoning.  On a more personal note, Ruth & I had some good laughs, particularly when times were stressful.  She had a great dry sense of humor and cared deeply and sincerely for everyone.  Ruth is very much missed and will never be forgotten. 

There are not enough words to describe the respect I have for Ruth, Though we were located at opposite ends of the country, our work paths crossed frequently and from the very beginning, aside from being a beacon of knowledge, she always exhumed kindness and patience. Ruth was my favorite, and I am so grateful that we were able to meet last year during a work trip, she welcomed me to the department as if I was family. Ruth always made herself available and would go out of her way to accommodate anyone in need of help. Ruth, I pray that you are at peace up above, you are and will continue to be greatly missed.  

I had the honor of working with Ruth for many years as we journeyed through the trials and tribulations of Trade Services.  Both of us aspiring to provide value as well as sharing our experience and knowledge with our coworkers, peers and others within the banking community. At times we butted heads but were always respectful of each other and knew when to stand our ground.  The value Ruth provided to me and to the people she touched is immeasurable.  Ruth will be missed, but never forgotten. Rest In Peace my compadre...

I'm not sure where to begin with this as I've grown to know Ruth beyond the work life. I guess we'll start there. Ruth interviewed me when I was 22 years old with no Trade Finance experience. The position required 4 years of experience. I don't know what it was but she had faith in me and took the leap to hire me. From there, we built the TSO C&M team together and she taught me so much about compliance. I truly owe my career to her.  My favorite work memory is waltzing over to her desk whenever I had a stressful moment and we would sit and vent for a while. Her dry sense of humor always cheered me up. Our vent sessions always ended with her buying the whole staff overpriced Haagan-Dazs ice cream just to bring some sunshine into our day.  Beyond work, Ruth was genuinely a caring person. She was always the first to ask about how we or our families were doing. She was as invested in our kids/pets as we were. If you go into her cubicle or around it, you'll see that she built out walls of photos of our kids, grand kids, pets, accomplishments, etc. She celebrated every moment with us. We often talked about what she would do once she retired. She toyed with the idea of becoming a pet sitter in her spare time because she loved them so much.  I'd like to think she would've spent her time binging on the Korean soap operas she loved so much. I still don't know how she understood what was going on! Ruth is truly a one of a kind person and I will miss her dearly. She was my manager, mentor, work mom, and friend. I wish we had more years to spend with her but thankful for all the ones we did have. Rest in peace, Ruth, and may we meet again one day. 

Ruth was a great mentor and an indefatigable worker.  She always told me that she and I will retire at the same  time, walk out the door together and never look back.  Then she will come over to my house and we will sit under the oak tree and have coffee. We laughed and groaned about work  and had long conversations about everything and nothing.  She would greet me with  "good morning sunshine" and asked how my family and I are doing.  Somehow she always managed to make her team feel important.  I lost a very good friend and I will miss her terribly. 
Rest in peace my friend. You are now united with your mom whom you loved so much.        

I have only been working with Ruth a little over a year, but we were kindred spirits in our work goals. Not matter how busy she was, she always had time for me and answer various questions. I once asked her why she would drop everything for me, and she said, "I know you'll always have my back." That was very true. I will miss her dearly.

Anyone who worked with Ruth knows how lucky they were to have her as a colleague.  She was smart, she was passionate, she was fair, she was funny, she was a LOT.  You thank your lucky stars for the time together, the work accomplished -- but you also feel the pain of losing someone who was that special...way, way,  WAY too soon.    It hurts like something and we all feel it, Ruth...

I don't know if it's my "favorite" memory of Ruth, but I recall so many moments of adversity and challenges overcome, moments when Ruth was the one standing / doing the talking and everyone else just stayed quiet and deferred to her experience.  I also remember one or two times I may have over-reached on something and how graceful Ruth was in accepting my apology and understanding it was at least done in good effort.  RIP Ruth --- here's one person who will never, ever forget you.

I had the honor and privilege of working with Ruth for the past four years and had the utmost respect for her professional knowledge, thoughtful approach, frankness and gentle sense of humor. She is a great loss to her colleagues and to the trade finance professionals across the industry. My deepest condolences to her family.

OBITUARY

Ruth Lynn Von Slomski

May 14, 1955 – March 30, 2020

Oakdale Mortuary & Memorial Park

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