JoEllen Zembruski-Ruple

With profound sadness, we announce the passing of our beloved JoEllen Zembruski-Ruple, 65, on March 25th, 2025. JoEllen passed away due to a rare reaction to chemotherapy treatment for squamous cell cancer, just three months after her diagnosis. JoEllen was born on December 4, 1959, in Hempstead, New York, to Edward and Alice (Junda) Zembruski and lived a life full of joy, compassion, and advocacy for others.

JoEllen attended Saint Ladislaus Elementary School (Hempstead), Maria Regina High School (Uniondale), and SUNY Brockport, Class of 1981. Her childhood was filled with many rambunctious cousins, beach days in Hampton Bays, and, later, Jamesport.

JoEllen was a recreational therapist, and spent her professional life advocating for those with disabilities, working at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of New York for 19 years. In that time, she enriched the lives of countless patients, many of whom remained close friends. The Rusk Institute at New York University and Mount Sinai were also made better by JoJo's tireless work. Most recently, JoEllen worked for Independence Care System in Brooklyn and continued to support clients to live full and independent lives.

In 1999, JoJo married Jay Ruple and for the next nine years, they were the most dynamic duo you could imagine. Any event was improved by the mere presence of JoEllen and Jay. The sudden loss of Jay in 2008 was heartbreaking for everyone, but JoJo persevered and for the last 17 years lived her life in a way that honored our cherished Bumbie Bear. Later, she met Richard Khavkine and in him found the most supportive, kind, and good-humored partner. We should all be so lucky to have loved and to have been loved like JoJo.

JoJo was vivacious, outgoing, and a consummate New Yorker. She enjoyed nothing more than a great sale, and would gladly share with anyone just how much she saved on a given purchase. She loved to travel, and often brought her friends and partner along for the ride. In recent years, that meant adventures in Spain, Portugal, and the Jersey Shore. She and Richard traveled to Amsterdam and Paris in celebration of her 65th birthday just a few months ago.

JoEllen was preceded in death by her unforgettable husband, Jay, her parents, and her godmother, Lee Lyons. She is survived by her siblings Susan Zembruski, James Zembruski (Sharyn), and Janie Zee, her amazing partner, Richard, her nieces, Ali Zembruski and Naomi Shaw (Ben), her nephew, Drew (Annie) Zembruski, her brother-in-law, Brooks Ruple, and his children, Austin, Colby, and Brooke, and more friends and cousins than we could possibly name.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to contribute to a memorial bench in Central Park - please see the GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/ad5aee23

A celebration of life will come later. Information will be posted here.