Doswald, Ruth Hannes

Ruth E. (nee Hannes) Doswald, (age93), of Blacksburg, Virginia, passed away on August 28, 2022. She was born in Hamburg, Germany on November 3, 1928. In 1939, to avoid persecution by the Nazis, her family sent her to England on one of the last Kindertransport.

In 1951, she received her nursing degree (R.N.) from Guy’s Hospital in London. In 1953, she came to the United States as a visiting nurse at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. This year was followed by nursing at Stanford University Hospital, New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center, and Group Health in Seattle, Washington, where she met and married her husband, Herman, in 1956.

Ruth was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Herman K. Doswald, parents, Dr. Berthold and Inge Hannes of Hamburg, Germany, her sister, Lilo, and her husband, Thomas Rosenmeyer of Berkeley, California, and her brother, Klaus Hannes and his wife, Felicitas Hannes, of Hamburg, Germany. She is survived ty her two daughters, Caroline and husband, Sanjaya Wijesinghe, of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and their sons Joshua and Noah, and Stephanie Sebolt of Staunton, Virginia and her twin sons, Max and Alex and son Nicholas. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews and many wonderful friends.

Ruth was an active member of the Virginia Tech Faculty Women’s Club and participated in several of its subgroups such as Canoeing, Hiking, and Needlework. She loved music and took advantage of all the local offerings.

She was a loving and caring wife, mother, and grandmother.

Together with her husband, Herman, she loved to travel and visited many places in Europe, Hawaii, Alaska, and the Caribbean.

The family will hold a private memorial for Ruth.