Ella Ruth Chandler, 80, entered into rest 31 March 2017, at the Westwood Nursing Facility in Evans, Georgia. Ruth Chandler, first born child of Fred and Lucy Taylor, was raised in the small Appalachian Mountain community of West Jefferson in Ashe County NC in a family setting of limited means, (wood burning stove, no water or electricity).
A year after graduating from high school Ruth became the wife of a career Army serviceman. Over the next thirty years she found herself involved in raising three boys, living in a multitude of military posts throughout the United States and such overseas locations as Ethiopia, Thailand and Germany, and pursuing a college degree in her spare time. She also began working as an Army Community Service (ACS) volunteer, assisting young enlisted soldiers, their wives and families with limited finances to cope with the demands of frequent assignment moves, extended family separation and rigorous duty assignments associated with military service.
It was while stationed with her husband at VII Corps Headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany that she conceived and originated the first ACS “Swap & Assist Shop”. She developed a network of donations and fund raising to allow such soldiers to “borrow” without charge many essential living items they needed for their families.
Swap & Assist Shops began to spread throughout the overseas command. When Ruth left to accompany her husband to his statewide assignment, she received the highest volunteer recognition from Headquarters, United States Army Europe.
During National Volunteer Week in April 2000, she became the first Fort Gordon recipient of the Emma Marie Baird Award, recognition for volunteer service.
Using the donated items excessive to the needs of the Fort Gordon community, she was able to make frequent clothing donations to local churches and homeless shelters in the Augusta area. She contributed over 26,000 hours of volunteer community service during her lifetime.
Ruth Chandler is survived by her husband, Col., (Ret. US-Army) Edwin W. Chandler, sons William P. Bowman, Jr. and Hudson E. Chandler of Augusta, Georgia and Karl D. Chandler of Gaithersburg, MD, brothers Willard Blain, Mack Edward, and Earl Junior Taylor of Ashe County NC, Robert Wayne Taylor of Thomasville, NC, sisters Wilma Dare Lewis, Helen Marie Lewis, Dorothy Miller, and Ollie Seagraves of Ashe County, NC.
The family will receive friends on Saturday, April 8, 2017 at 2:00 – 4:00PM at Platt’s Funeral Home, 336 N. Belair Road, Evans, GA 30909