Ruth L. Chaffee

Ruth Louise Chaffee passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 12, 2024, at Poland Village Assisted Living in Poland, at the age of 98.

Born on April 3, 1926, in Portsmouth, Ohio, she was the daughter of the late Curtis and Carrie (Hill) Salyers.

Ruth was a 1944 graduate of Portsmouth High School. Were it not for fate, Ruth may never have met her husband, Roland Lee Chaffee, Sr. While serving in the Coast Guard, Roland was on a plane that crashed near Portsmouth, resulting in him recovering there and being assigned duties on the Ohio River. Ruth was working as the hostess at a restaurant that Roland and his friends frequented, and Roland finally worked up the courage to ask her out on a date. Ruth and Roland were married on December 15, 1944, and they were together until his passing on November 21, 2003.

Ruth had a successful career, retiring as Supervisor of Area Accounting after 34 years of service with Columbia Gas of Ohio. Ruth and Roland enjoyed going to dances, playing cards and spending time with family and their close friends. Ruth loved to read, and she was also known for many skills over the years such as making pies, canning, freezing, cooking holiday meals and family favorite dishes, sewing and golf. But it is her role as a grandmother that she will be most remembered for. There wasn’t much she wouldn’t do for her grandchildren and she spent countless hours with each of them.
 

Ruth is survived by her son, R. Lee Chaffee, Jr. of Salem; her grandchildren, Kevin Chaffee and his wife, Lori of Salem, and Michele Chaffee and her husband, Adam Nordin of Chicago, Ill.; and her great-grandchildren, Clayton and Caleb Chaffee of Salem.

Ruth was preceded in death by her husband, Roland; and her brother, Gordon "Bud" Salyers.

A small family and friends service celebrating Ruth's life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in the chapel at Green Haven Memorial Gardens in Canfield where she will be laid to rest next to her beloved husband, Roland.

Arrangements are being handled by Stark Memorial Funeral Home and Cremation Services.
 

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