Ruth Gaul

Ruth Whalen Gaul, beloved wife of R. Wharton Gaul, died on July 28th, 2010, after a short illness.
She was preceded in death by her parents, John Turner Whalen and Jessamine Burroughs Whalen. Ruth was born September 14, 1927 in Wilson, N.C., where she grew up. She earned an associate degree in English at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, in 1948, and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in 1950, where she met her husband at the university's Canterbury Club. They married in 1952 and settled in Charlotte, N.C., where she was a homemaker. They were members for many years of St. Martin's Episcopal Church, where she and Wharton taught Sunday School, and involved in St. Christopher's Episcopal Church.
In Charlotte, she was active in the Charlotte Writers' Club Workshop, in which she completed a novel, and won first place in their annual short story contest. She also authored Christmas plays which were produced for children in Charlotte, including "Rainbow and the Christmas Star."
The Gauls retired to Murrells Inlet, S.C., in 1986, where they joined the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, and she served there, as head of the Altar Guild, on the Vestry, and as Senior Warden. She was a founding member of Murrells Inlet 2007 and worked with the group to preserve the Inlet.
Surviving are her husband, Wharton; her children: daughter, Ruth Gaul Schliessmann and her husband, Larry Schliessmann; son R. "Rusty" Wharton Gaul Jr. and his wife, Lisa; and grandchildren, Jessamine Belle Gaul, Samuel Wharton Gaul, and Matthew Grey Gaul.
Services will be at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection Saturday, July 31st, 2010, at 11 a.m.
Please sign an online guest book at www.goldfinchfuneralhome.com. Goldfinch Funeral Home, Beach Chapel, is in charge of the arrangements.