Vicky Ruiz

The beautiful soul we knew and loved dearly, Vicky Ruiz, born Victoria Lucille Zobel “Vicky Lou” passed away on Wednesday February 28, 2024, at 80 years of age in Asheville, NC. She was in the company of a few of her cherished family and friends.

Vicky came into this world on April 4, 1943, in Queens, NY. Born to Alvin and Lucille Zobel, sister to Allia Zobel Nolan and Tina Zobel (deceased in her earliest years).

At 20 years of age, Vicky and then husband Gonzalo Ruiz settled in Chicago and started what would become The Ruiz Family, consisting of twelve children (seven girls and five boys) whom Vicky joyously carried and delivered over the course of 20 years of her life.

She pursued her dreams of dedicating her life to healing others through nursing. She described nursing as a calling and one she rose to meet daily up to her last day on this earth. She did not believe in retirement as it would have kept her from doing what she loved most. “I love my job” she would always say.

A lifelong devout Catholic, Vicky instilled in her family above all else, the loving kindness teachings of Christ best described in the Sermon on the Mount. Always help your fellow man, love your enemies, care for the poor and marginalized, gravitate towards compassion and never worship material possessions. In her words, “there is no u-haul truck that follows the hearse.” Vicky collected plants, rocks, books, art, pottery, and some would say she collected perhaps one too many rescue dogs.

Vicky was a dreamer, a poetic soul who lived life on her own terms. She never fit a mold. She never “grew up” which allowed her to look at the world with child-like wonder, an extraordinary trait that shaped who she was.

She believed the greatest thing you will ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.

Vicky would say that who she is, lies in her soul, not in her body.

“I love having not only my large family around, but also all of their friends” she has said.

She was a kindred spirit for anyone who had the privilege of being in her company.

She now passes the torch to her children to carry forward all of the beauty and love she poured into her family and to the world she knew.

Vicky is survived by her twelve children and 19 grandchildren who adored her magical presence.

Ruiz Children: Francisco Ruiz, Joseph Anthony Ruiz, Judith Ruiz, Catalina Ruiz, Maria Victoria Ruiz, Gonzalo Ruiz Jr., Margarita Ruiz, Magdalena Ruiz, Alejandro Ruiz, Emilia Ruiz, Mercedes Ruiz, and Maximillian Ruiz.

Ruiz Grandchildren: Francisco Amadeo Ruiz, Xavier Ruiz Wool, Anna Mercedes Lachica, Emilio Lachica, Alex Lachica, Max Kadjan, Maria Emilia Kadjan, Sofia Victoria Ruiz Losada, Valentina Ruiz Losada, Lucas Patterson, and Gustavo Ruiz Fontaine, Lucia Ruiz Fontaine, Amelia Ruiz, Diego Ruiz, Victoria Ruiz Clark, Joseph Gallen Ruiz Clark, Gianna Maria Ruiz, Samuel Francisco Ruiz, and Sebastian Valentine Ruiz Biedinger.

In addition to her children and grandchildren, Vicky is survived by her only sister, Allia Zobel Nolan. She will be missed dearly by her best friend of many years Kelvin Anderson and her devoted dog Django who she always described as “the best human.”