Ruth Giblin Ploen, 10 Apr 1925 - 14 Jun 2015

PLOEN, GIBLIN, COADY, VAN STEENHUYSE

Posted By: Sandy Ficken (email)
Date: 9/17/2015 at 16:34:32

Ruth Ploen, 90

Ruth Giblin Ploen, 90, died June 14, 2015, in Denver, Colo.

Memorial donations may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.

She was born April 10, 1925, in Williamsburg, the daughter of Dr. Paul H. and Alice Coady Giblin. She attended the University of Iowa, Iowa City, from 1942 to 1946, receiving a bachelor of science degree in education. From 1946 to 1947, she was a field director with the Girl Scouts in Davenport.

She married Rex H. Ploen in 1947. She worked in the field of education on the administrative level. From 1956 to 1969, she was in Detroit, Mich., where she earned a master of arts degree in counseling and guidance at Wayne State University; she worked in the Las Vegas public schools from 1970 to 1977; in the Singapore American School from 1977 to 1979; as the London, England, American School principal from 1979 to 1980, and as the Arundel, England, admissions director, New England College (British campus) from 1981 to 1982.

She returned to the U.S. in 1982. From then until 1988, she summered in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and wintered in Estepona, Spain. She lived throughout the United States in Hilton Head, Toxaway Falls, St. Augustine, Tucson, Ruidoso and Prescott, settling in Denver from 2009 to 2015.

Ploen is survived by her husband, Rex; sons, Jeffrey P. (Gail) Ploen, Denver, and Col. Jason D. (Maureen) Ploen, Washington, D.C.; grandchildren, Zachary, Gretchen and Hollis; great-grandchildren, Tatum and Maisy; and one brother, John Gregory Giblin, Des Moines.

She was preceded in death by one brother, Paul H. Giblin, Cedar Rapids, and one sister, Mary K. Van Steenhuyse, Williamsburg.

Journal Tribune, 15 Jul 2015, pg 8