Ruth E. Lione

Ruth E. Lione, 95, of Annandale, New Jersey passed peacefully, on July 17, 2022.

Ruth was born to the late Friedrich Wilhelm Sauerbrei and Hildegard Sauerbrei Scherf (nee Meurer) on June 7, 1927 in Schmalkalden, Germany. Ruth studied photography and was an avid photographer, gardener, and storyteller throughout her life.

Ruth resided in Munich and Starnberg, Germany before immigrating to the United States in 1949. She met her late husband, Ralph J. Lione, in 1946, when Ralph stepped off a train in Starnberg, while Ruth was out walking her dog. She walked her dog on the same route the very next day and he was waiting there to meet her. Ruth and Ralph were married on September 9, 1949 in Jersey City. Ruth became a United States citizen on June 16, 1959.

Ruth and Ralph resided in Florida before moving to Tinton Falls, New Jersey in 1953 where they would reside until 2001 when they moved to Lakewood. In 2009, Ruth moved to Annandale, New Jersey to be nearer to her grandchildren.

Ruth was active in service both abroad and in her American community. She served as a Young Missionaries Society leader raising funds for under privileged areas of South America and was recognized by the Vatican for her efforts. Ruth arranged the flowers and dressed the altar for the Church of St. Leo the Great in Lincroft, NJ for over twenty years. Ruth was a longtime member and a past President of the Monmouth Symphony League, chairing many luncheons and collaborating on the 1989 cookbook Musical Feasts offered by the league. Ruth was also a chair of the Little Silver and Allenhurst Garden Clubs where she taught and won many awards for her flower arrangement. Ruth took tremendous pride in her home gardens and she loved to host friends and family in her lovely backyard. Ruth was well known for her love of Christmas decorating and baking. She was the focus of a December 23, 1987 news article about German Christmas baking and decorating. Ruth participated in many holiday home tours and won multiple awards for her outdoor Christmas decorating.

Ruth was the most vivid storyteller and often regaled her family and friends with stories of growing up in Germany, how she met her husband, her new life as an American, and even driving her car into someone’s kitchen early in her marriage. She loved to laugh.

Ruth’s greatest joy in life was her family. Nothing made her happier than having her whole family together for German meals, having pizza and ice cream Tuesdays with her youngest grandchildren, and trading stories with her great-grandson.

She is survived by her five sons: Michael (Patricia), Peter, R. Christopher (Tom), Anthony (Maybel) and Steven (Holly), as well as her seven grandchildren, Kimberly (Brian), Brian (Hillori), Moss, Remy, Jacob, Jonah, and Maria, and one great grandchild, Elias.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 am on Monday, July 25, 2022 at Immaculate Conception Church, 316 Allerton Rd., Annandale NJ 08801. Interment will follow in Immaculate Conception Cemetery, Halstead Street, Clinton NJ 08809.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to an organization that Ruth supported throughout her life: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis TN 38105 or by

Clicking Here

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For further information or to leave an online condolence, please visit www.holcombefisher.com.