Ruth McPheron ’48 made everyone feel seen and heard
This beloved Buckeyes inspired generations with her intellect, kindness and curiosity—plus a few unforgettable travel tales.
More than 300 people attended the viewing and memorial service for Ruth Klingler McPheron ’48, who passed away in April at the age of 97. “She outlived most of her close relatives and friends,” says her son, Bruce McPheron ’76, an Ohio State professor emeritus of entomology and former executive vice president and provost.
“But so many people in their 30s, 40s and 50s made it a point to tell me how she had touched their lives, how she had given them advice and how she had been such a wonderful mentor for them.”
Ruth was a small-town gal from Hardin County, the first in her family to attend college. “She loved learning and that’s something she held onto her entire life,” Bruce says.
She passed that love to her sons, Bruce, David ’79 and Dennis ’79. “After I became a professor, she insisted I send her copies of all my articles before they were published,” Bruce says. “I’m not sure she understood everything, but she loved to talk about them with me.”
After college, Ruth taught high school business education and worked in the Ohio State Office of International Affairs and at Kenton United Methodist Church. After retiring in 1991, Ruth and her husband, Mark (who died in 2005), crisscrossed the country in their beloved Airstream.
“She kept notebooks full of photos, and it was such a delight to listen to her tell stories of their adventures,” Bruce says. “Like the time the Airstream got stuck between two trees in the campground.”
After he was named provost, McPheron took his mother to visit his new office in Bricker Hall. “When we got there, she said, ‘Oh, you mean the [former] Administration Building,’” McPheron says. “Her office in International Affairs was there, under a big stairway in what’s now a broom closet.”
