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Loyalty Society Profile:

Ruth Gingrich Devlin – Class of 1946

Taking a step back in time with Ruth Gingrich Devlin – Class of 1946

As a dedicated supporter and Loyalty Society donor, Ruth Gingrich Devlin, an alumna of the class of 1946, recently shared her experience and the joys of attending ESU with us. Ruth has been a long-time donor, consistently supporting the institution for over twenty-five years. Her dedication is recognized at the Zimbar level of the Loyalty Society, which honors the University’s most dedicated donors.

Ruth Gingrich Devlin – Class of 1946.

Family Emphasis on Education

Ruth had two brothers and a sister and grew up in Williamsport. Her parents descended from Hummelstown and were Pennsylvania Dutch in the Hershey area before settling down in Williamsport. Ruth’s grandfather sold their family’s land to Milton Hershey to build his chocolate factory.  Her family’s emphasis on education and athletics helped shape Ruth’s career and outlook on life. Their family vacations were spent at the Jersey Shore, in Ocean City. Her first job was working as a waitress in Asbury Park. When Ruth began researching colleges, she learned about ESU from her high school gym teacher, Helen Dieffenbach Lutes ’31, an athletic star in her own right. Helen recognized Ruth’s natural athletic abilities and encouraged her to pursue an education at ESU.

Ruth Devlin ’46 (front row, third from left) with the ESU field hockey team.

College During Wartime

Meanwhile, enrollment at East Stroudsburg State Teachers College (ESSTC) was declining. As World War II escalated, the draft complicated enrollment, as men left to fight in the war. In October 1940, the Compulsory Military Service Act was enacted, requiring all males aged 21 to 36 to register for military service. It wasn’t until the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 that student enrollment was seriously impacted, as evidenced by an all-time low of 22 male students enrolled in the 1943-1944 academic year. “On Monday, February 15, [1943], the school accompanied the sixty-one reservists to the East Stroudsburg train station. The Stroud Courier noted, “the sudden loss of sixty-one students devastated the sports program, taking four of five starters from the state championship basketball team and four varsity gymnasts.”i

Ruth remembers that there were as many men as women in her freshman year, but then it was only women after the men left for the war. “We walked down to the train station to see them off to war. Some came back, but some didn’t,” Ruth recalls. That year, Homecoming was cancelled, along with the athletics seasons for football, men’s basketball, baseball, and soccer. For the first time, all four officers and the president of the Student Senate were women.ii

The Class of 1946 officers were the first all-women class officers, including Ruth as Treasurer.

In the 1940s, women at ESU had a curfew, while men had none, a rule that might surprise students today. This curfew remained even though few male students were left after the majority had gone to serve in the war. Dean Ruth Jones, for whom Dansbury’s garden area is dedicated, was the Dean of Women during the time Ruth was on campus.

Dean Jones “somewhat ‘liberalized’ curfew rules, allowing sophomores two nights out, juniors three, and leaving seniors to their ‘own discretion.’ Nevertheless, women had to be in the dormitory by ten except on Saturday, when their ‘privileges’ were extended to eleven thirty. Mandatory ‘lights out’ procedure was eliminated, but it was expected that “lights should be out before eleven, except in case of emergency. It is evident that these rules were not always obeyed, since alumnae report that some women left a broom in the back door of Stroud so that they could get in after curfew.”iii Ruth remembers, “We would sneak out into the woods in the Delaware Water Gap. We went to New Jersey because the drinking age was only 18.” Ruth remembers a time her friend Bette Wood fell and broke her leg.

Life at ESU

The rest of her years at ESU were spent in a primarily female environment. Similar to the sisterhood camaraderie often found at an all-women's school, Ruth had many fond memories of classmates causing trouble at what was then East Stroudsburg State Teachers College. The upperclassmen questioned the freshmen, “Are you here for the good of the school or the good of yourself?” in response to their antics.

Ruth lived in Central Stroud Hall, and the boys were on the other side during her freshman year. Ruth made the women's basketball team in her freshman year.  Although she never played in a game, being part of the team humbled her and taught her not to be overconfident in her athletic abilities. Ruth was very involved in campus life, participating in the Drama Club, serving as class Treasurer, joining the Varsity S Club, and acting as secretary of the Entertainment Council. Ruth graduated in 1946 with a degree in Health and Physical Education.

Ruth (front row, third from left) with her 1946 classmates for a class photo.

Post-Graduation and Family Life

Ruth was employed at Jeffersonville Central School in Jeffersonville, New York. She taught health and physical education for all twelve grades. During the summers, Ruth began pursuing a master’s degree at Penn State. While there, Ruth met her future husband, Jim. Ruth was playing softball as spectators cheered her name. Jim heard them, grew curious about the standout player, and discovered it was Ruth. Although Ruth completed 18 of the 30 required credits for the master's program, the couple decided to get married and start their family. They were married in 1951 in Williamsport, and soon after, drove to New York, where they boarded a cruise ship to enjoy a honeymoon in Europe, taking their car with them. They traveled by sea aboard the Mauretania and vacationed in Scotland, England, France, Italy, and Germany.

When the couple returned to the US on the Queen Mary, they decided to relocate and establish their lives in Pittsburgh. They settled in the Wexford area and went on to have six children. Jim worked for Devlin Electrical Contractors. Ruth was a long-term substitute at the North Allegheny School District for forty years. Ruth spent her summers teaching tennis lessons at their home, after Jim had a tennis court built in their backyard. They spent many years at a family cabin just north of Williamsport, where they enjoyed nature and camping. Ruth and Jim shared 56 years of marriage before Jim's passing in 2008. Today, Ruth has fifteen grandchildren and twenty-one great-grandchildren.

A Life of Adventure and Giving

Ruth has always been adventurous and even learned to fly a Cessna 100 plane at the age of fifty. “Just to say I could do it. Amelia Earhart was always my idol growing up. I took lessons for about a year and flew solo.”iv Despite numerous medical ailments, including a stroke and breaking her hip twice, Ruth continues to be active in her retirement community. She plays ping pong and sings in the choir each week.

Ruth during a recent ESU Foundation visit.

Today, Ruth continues to enjoy simple pleasures, such as baking and watching sports. Reflecting on a life well-lived, her words of wisdom and advice to Warriors: “Enjoy every day while you can and prepare to serve and give back.” ESU equipped Ruth with the skills necessary to be an effective teacher, leading her to remain loyal to her alma mater. She has returned for Homecoming and Reunions, remaining true to the Spirit of the Warrior through her dedication and generosity.

Ruth enjoying a bike ride around Pittsburgh.

i (Squeri, Hogan, & Nevins, 1993, pp. 52-54)
ii (Squeri, Hogan, & Nevins, 1993, p. 54)
iii (Squeri, Hogan, & Nevins, 1993, pp. 43-44)
iv (Billings, 2021)