Ruth Gronneberg

GRONNEBERG
South Kingstown, RI - Ruth Gronneberg, widow of the Rev. Hollier Tomlin who was associate rector of Christ Episcopal Church during the 1970s and 1980s, died Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at South County Hospital in Wakefield, Rhode Island. She was 91. Mrs. Gronneberg died while attempting to recover from serious injuries she suffered at the Kingston, RI, railroad station on June 17 when a Boston-bound Acela express train sped past the platform. The wind of its passing pushed her backward and she fell to the ground, fracturing her left hip and wrist. "She will be missed in all of the many places she lived and is still remembered," said her son, David Tomlin. "She radiated joy, warmth, modesty and goodness. Her smile and the sound of her voice, often raised in a song, made her a welcome presence wherever she went." Born Ruth Marion Thomas on Nov. 1, 1919, in Summit, NJ, Mrs. Gronneberg was the youngest of four children. Her father, Walter Thomas, worked on Wall Street and later as a traveling salesman in New England. Her mother was the former Ida May Houghton. The Thomas family settled in Providence, RI, when Mrs. Gronneberg was very young. She graduated from Classical High School and the Katherine Gibbs School. She attended Cavalry Baptist Church, where she met and later married the late Mr. Tomlin, son of the church's pastor, the Rev. Earl Hollier Tomlin. The couple moved to Florida, where Mr. Tomlin was in flight training with the U.S. Navy, and continued to move throughout the next 14 years from one posting to the next until Mr. Tomlin left the Navy in 1955 to enter seminary in preparation to become an Episcopal minister. He was founding rector of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in Corpus Christi before coming in 1971 to Christ Church, where his wife was church secretary for several years, sang in the church choir, participated in Bible study groups and taught Sunday school. The Rev. Mr. Tomlin retired in 1986 and died in 1989. Ten years later, Mrs. Gronneberg married Ed Gronneberg, a native and lifelong resident of Rhode Island who owned and operated real estate and insurance businesses in Cranston, RI.
The two had known each other well for many years. Mr. Gronneberg was married to Hollier Tomlin's sister Bonnie until her death in 1996, and the two couples had all been close friends. Following their marriage in 1999, Ruth and Ed Gronneberg divided their time for many years between homes in San Antonio and South County, Rhode Island. Mrs. Gronneberg remained active in Christ Church affairs, serving on the vestry and on the church school faculty. In recent years the Gronnebergs settled permanently at Brightview Commons in Wakefield, RI. In addition to her husband, Mrs. Gronneberg is survived by her son, David Tomlin of New York, NY, stepdaughters Linda Gaulin of West Greenwich, RI; Kathy Pazera of Jamestown, RI ; Andrea Richardson of Narragansett, RI; and Bonnie Harbourt of Roanoke, VA; three grandchildren, 11 step grandchildren, one great grandchild and one step great grandchild.
Memorial services will be held at Christ Episcopal Church at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 9. In lieu of flowers the family requests that contributions be made in Mrs. Gronneberg's name to Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island, 1085 North Main St., Providence, RI 02904.