Lois Ruth Knock

Lois Ruth Knock (née Krug) died on June 13, 2008 after a long and blessed life lasting eighty-five years. Ruthie was born and raised in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, on May 31, 1923, the second child and only daughter of Emil Clyde Krug, Jr. and Clara Beaulah Schlessman Krug.

After graduating from Wilkinsburg High School, she attended St. Margaret's Hospital School of Nursing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During her second year of nurse's training, she was recognized as the Student of the Year.

Upon passing State Board Examinations and becoming a registered nurse, Ruthie joined the United States Army Nursing Corps on March 3, 1945, during World War II. She served at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, Fort Meade in Maryland, and at Schofield Barracks in Oahu, Hawaii. She primarily cared for soldiers with psychiatric problems. It was during her time in the army, that Ruthie acquired her passion for traveling and her enjoyment of horse back riding. She also realized the power of her humor and that a smile helps heal.

After returning to continental United States, Ruthie joined her brother, E. Clyde Krug, III, as a nurse in his growing medical practice in the Pittsburgh area. She worked with him until retiring from the nursing profession in 1977. Nursing and her skillful diagnostic abilities were keystones in her life.

On August 1, 1949, Ruthie married James William Johnston, of Penn Township (later renamed Penn Hills), Pennsylvania at All Saints Episcopal Church in Rosedale, Pennsylvania. They resided in Penn Hills. With Jimmy, she had one child, Clare Kay Johnston Cox. It was while she was living in Penn Hills that she further developed her artistic skills taking oil painting classes. In addition, she took sewing and tailoring classes expanding her knowledge of needlework. She enjoyed embroidery and knitting. She also enjoyed playing the piano and rose gardening and was an avid reader.

Along with her mother, Ruthie and her daughter, Clare, spent each summer at Topsail Beach, North Carolina. They would walk the beach each day, collecting shells and fossilized sharks teeth. They also crabbed and fished and enjoyed living beside the ocean.

On February 25, 1977, Ruthie married Robert B. Knock of Reisterstown, Maryland. They were married at Glyndon United Methodist Church in Glyndon, Maryland. She moved to Reisterstown, where she and Bob lived until November 14, 2006 when they relocated to a retirement community in Gwynn Oak, Maryland.

While in Reisterstown, Ruthie enjoyed entertaining and continued to oil paint. She also studied traditional tole painting. Also she and Bob started to travel extensively throughout the United States. She especially enjoyed meeting new people; throughout her life, she never met a stranger.

When Bob retired from Telemecanique in 1986, they traveled more frequently and started to take cruises. They enjoyed visiting each place equally, loving the travel and seeing new sites. Ruthie visited all fifty states in the United States as well as Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, England and the northern European countries.

Throughout her life, Ruthie cared for others. Her open free-spirited, love-of-life is an inspiration and a guide to those who knew her. Being with her made you feel better about yourself and your future. She loved making people laugh and was always ready with a smile. She is precious and dear to her family and will be sorely missed. She walks with angels.

Ruthie is survived by her husband of thirty-one years, Robert B. Knock, and her daughter, Clare Kay Johnston Cox, and son-in-law, John Needham Cox of Charlotte, North Carolina, her step-daughter, Patricia Anne Potter and her husband, J. Allan Potter, Jr. of Reisterstown, Maryland. She is also survived by her two nephews, Marshall Reid Krug of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and David Richard Krug of Charlotte, North Carolina and her cousin, June Dailey of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.


The Memorial Service for Ruth will be held on Friday July 18, 2008 at Eleven(11) O'clock A.M. in the Chapel at Augsburg Lutheran Home which is located at 6811 Campfield Road, Gwynn Oak, MD.., 21207. After the service a reception will follow in the main dinning room of the Augsburg Lutheran Village of Independent Living.

Directions to the Chapel are:-
From the Baltimore Beltway Interstate 695, traveling from the West, get off at exit 18,(Liberty Road - MD 26) heading toward Lochearn. Counting the Traffic signal at Liberty, turn left at the Fourth(4th) traffic signal, which has a left turn lane signal, which is Essex Road. Essex Road dead ends into Campfield Road. Turn right on Campfield and proceed beyond the chapel to the parking lot on the right.

Traveling from the East on Interstate 695 get off with a right turn, then keep in the far left lane toward Liberty Road heading toward Lochearn. Counting the traffic signal at Liberty Road, turn left at the fifth(5th) traffic signal follow the directions for coming from the West.


The family requests contributions to her memory be made to Gilchrist Hospice Care at 555 West Towsontown Boulevard, Towson, Maryland 21204 or Historical Society of Topsail Island, send to: Suzanne Murray, Membership Chair, Historical Society of Topsail Island, Post Office Box 475, Holly Ridge, North Carolina 28445.