Gloria Ruben

Born March 3rd,1926, in Norwood, Gloria lived an exceptionally full life. She graduated from Fisher College in Boston, and after World War II she spent time living in Washington, D.C. and then Frankfurt, Germany working for the American government rebuilding Europe. She worked as a VIP secretary and concierge, coordinating and booking accommodations for politicians, diplomats, royals, and movie stars. She helped organize Bob Hope’s USO tours, sailed the Reine on a commandeered yacht, and once delayed President Truman’s takeoff by taking his pilot for a night on the town.

She met then-Senator John F. Kennedy (cute and charismatic), J. Robert Oppenheimer (nothing special), and Prince Aly Khan (looked like a toad but his wife, Rita Hayworth, was beautiful.) She once had a private audience with Pope Pius XII, and throughout her life found comfort in her Catholic faith. She met and married her first husband Thomas J. Conway in Europe and had her first daughter Kathleen Patricia.

After her time in Europe, she lived and worked as a single mother in Boston where she met her husband of 50 years, Karl Heinz Ruben. They relocated to Stoughton where they had Rolf Damon and Tina Louise, and together raised their family. Gloria spent time working additional jobs and taking up many skills and hobbies. She was an avid reader and editor, and was known to mark up everything she ever read with corrections and annotations. She was a polyglot, and at one point in her life she was conversational in five languages. She loved crosswords, music from Vivaldi to Rachmaninoff, card games from Gin Rummy to Uno, and crocheting, needlepoint and the like.

In the 1980s, she and Karl moved to Cork, Ireland, for a business opportunity and they fell in love with the Irish people. In 1992 they moved to Leisurewoods where they enjoyed a happy retirement. She continued to read her favorite authors such as Agatha Christie, Patricia Wentworth, and Elizabeth Goudge and enjoyed many cups of coffee, cookies, and Devil Dogs with her loved ones.

Fiercely independent, she lived by herself for 15 years after the passing of her husband in 2008. She was known to her family and friends as a force of nature, and never accepted anything that she didn’t like. She was a lifelong learner, and never stopped thinking critically or asking questions. In her final months, she grew to love her granddogs, even while professing that she preferred cats.

She is survived by her daughter Kathie Chouinard and her husband Bob of Plympton, son Rolf Ruben and his wife Anne of Rowley, and daughter Tina Daly and her husband Chuck of Stoughton, as well many loving grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and dogs. She is predeceased by her husband Karl and her brother Albin.

Gloria didn’t want a wake or a funeral and she did not like flowers. Anyone who wants to pay their respects can make a donation in her name to Old Colony Hospice (321 Manley St. West Bridgewater, MA 02379, (800) 370-1322, oldcolonyhospice.org), who took very good care of her and treated her with the respect and dignity she deserved.