Visiting: Monday 7-9 PM & Tuesday 2-4 & 7-9 PM Funeral Service: Wednesday 11 AM @ Trinity Lutheran Church 411 46th Street Brooklyn, NY 11220 Cemetery: Green-Wood (Brooklyn, NY) - - - COMPLIMENTARY VALET PARKING AVAILABLE - - - In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Ruth's memory to your favorite charity, or to one of Ruth's: Opportunity International; website: us.opportunity.org Lutheran World Relief; website: LWR.org Trinity Lutheran Church, 411 46th Street Brooklyn, NY 11220; website: trinitybrooklyn.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vita Ruth Marie Qualben (née Arnesen) was born in Brooklyn, NY on September 29, 1924 to Martha and Sigurd Arnesen. Her mother was educated at St. Olaf College in the violin, and her father was the publisher of the Nordisk Tidende (later the Norway Times). Ruth grew up in Brooklyn, where she continued to live for most of her 90 years. Ruth was always a studious and curious child. After graduating from Bay Ridge High School in her native Brooklyn she followed in her mother's adventuresome footsteps to the great Midwest where she also completed her undergraduate education at St. Olaf College in Northfield MN. From the first time that young Ruth saw a live nerve at the dentist's office, she was fascinated with - and awed by -- the human body and its complexities. After college, she returned to the East coast where she pursued this compelling interest in the form of a doctorate in medicine at New York University, followed by interning at Methodist Hospital back in Brooklyn. Ruth worked as a staff physician in the New York Telephone Company and the American Telephone & Telegraph Company. She then worked with the New York City Department of Health for 20 years, first as a part time Clinician while her four children were young, and later went on to become Regional Consultant for Brooklyn and Bronx Bureau of School Health; rising to being the Assistant Director for the Bureau; and eventually the NYC Department of Health Regional Health Director for Staten Island and West Brooklyn. Ruth then moved from School Health to a new career direction in Occupational Health. She took a senior executive position as the Medical Director for the Equitable Group & Health Insurance Company (later Equicor). One thing she loved about this decade of work was the opportunity to learn about all the latest advances and techniques in all fields of medicine. She equally reveled in the camaraderie and responsibility inherent in her work. Ruth served on many boards and committees over the years, including the Eger Lutheran Home Board of Directors. Ruth was a lifelong member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Sunset Park, Brooklyn whose congregation was a source of many enduring friendships and added much richness to her life. She served the church in many capacities over the years, including most recently the Church Council, the Investment Committee, and last but not least, the "ladies who count". In addition to service in the community, Ruth was a philanthropist who sought to make a difference by contributing to programs with sustainable, long-lasting outcomes. She also founded the Senior Seminar at Wagner College which encourages the exploration of individual spirituality regardless of religious background or culture. The same curiosity and interest that drove her in her career extended into the personal. Ruth took great interest in learning about what other people thought and why. Her probing questions and listening skills endeared her to people of all ages, who counted Ruth as both an interesting conversationalist and an inspiring role model. Many a young college student or relative found themselves at her kitchen table talking philosophy and politics on a Sunday afternoon and well into the wee hours of the morning over bagels and a bottomless cup of coffee. Her same fascination with the complexities and interrelationships within the human body extended into the rest of the natural world. She loved the out of doors. From biking in Norway, gazing at the night sky with her star charts, walking in the woods and experimenting with plants and bulbs, Ruth was engaged in her environment. She was physically active to the end. She and her "rollator" were a well-known sight from 3rd Avenue down to Shore Road and her brisk pace put people decades her junior to shame. Family Ties: Ruth found her intellectual equal and life partner in her husband, the late Paul Aldrich Qualben, who she married in 1949. They raised four children who are, along with their families: Son, the late Lars Qualben, his wife Martha (née Srb), and their sons Paul and Kai; Son Sigurd, his ex-wife Linda (née Jacobsen), and their children Kristofer, Laura McNamee and her family: husband Desi and children Emma and Aiden, and David and his daughter Charlotte; Son Jonathan; and Daughter Elizabeth, her husband Aron Pervin, and their sons Kristofer and Erik Pervin. Ruth's is survived by her brothers Paul and Sigurd Arnesen, and sisters-in-"love" Jean Arnesen and Lois Qualben, and pre-deceased by her sister Norma Knutson and her husband Kent Knutson, sisters-in-law Dorothy Arnesen and Caryl Qualben, and brothers-in-law Philip and James Qualben. Her life has also been enriched by her many loving nieces and nephews, their children and their grandchildren.