Henry Gibbons Ruark Jr.

1941 - 2025

Henry Gibbons Ruark, Jr., professor of English and acclaimed poet, died at home from kidney disease on Sunday, October 19, 2025, at age 83. He was in the company of his wife of 62 years, Kay Stinson Ruark, and his daughters Jennifer Kay Ruark (Gabe Hutter) and Emily Ruark Clarke (Ian Clarke).

Gib was born December 10, 1941, in Raleigh, North Carolina, the son of Henry Gibbons Ruark, a Methodist minister, and Sarah Elizabeth Jenkins Ruark, a teacher and homemaker.

Gib earned his BA from UNC-Chapel Hill and his MA from UMASS-Amherst, where he studied under the poet Joseph Langland. He and Kay met as students at UNC and were married in Amherst. His English degrees prepared him for a career of teaching, chiefly at the University of Delaware, where he formed strong bonds with his students and fellow faculty members.

Among his prize-winning and beautiful books of poetry are A Program for Survival, Passing through Customs, and Staying Blue. His friend the poet James Wright said of his second book, Reeds, that "[i]n the absolute clarity of his feeling, his diction, and his music, he seems to me unique among his contemporaries, and certainly one of the finest poets now writing in English."

He wore his learning lightly. When asked by strangers what he did for a living, he tended to say he was a schoolteacher. His admiration for other poets' work was clear in his own poems and in conversations, where he would often say from memory lines that he loved.

Gib loved his native North Carolina, especially the sea coast, where he fished with his father, then enjoyed trips with Kay and with his daughters throughout his life. He traveled many times to Ireland, where he felt at home and fell in love with Irish music. One of the great pleasures of his last 20 years was making regular visits to listen to a group of session musicians in Raleigh. A musician himself only in his poetry, he was the family D.J., filling the house with bluegrass, classical, blues, and many other kinds of music. He loved watching birds and had a special chair in his study where he sat to watch them come to feeders and a birdbath.

He loved with a devotion and loyalty that were a delight to see and share. In the many elegies he wrote, he taught us how to grieve.

Gib is also survived by six grandchildren (Gabe, Elinor, Sarah, KJ, Nora, and Jacob), his sister, Rena Westbrook Ruark, his brother, Robert Samuel Ruark, a niece, nephews, and many cousins.

A graveside service will be held on Saturday, November 8 at Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.