Lois Lillian Ruplin, age 71, passed away Wednesday, November 23, 2021.
Lois was a force of nature and touched many lives with her sharp wit and generous spirit. Lois graduated from Earl L Vandermeulen high school in Port Jefferson and continued her passionate love of learning at Stony Brook University where she received a master’s degree in fine art while also pursuing a PhD in linguistics. Lois was a dedicated painter and expressed her unique and colorful vision of everyday life in her artwork and personal style. She exhibited her paintings in various galleries on Long Island and spoke fondly of the year spent painting in New York City.
At 26, she met her late husband Ferdinand Ruplin and became a stepmother to his five children. She spent summers with the kids on lengthy bike treks, “Minnesota to New York” and returned often to her family’s property in Schroon Lake, NY to camp for months at a time. Love of the Adirondacks, led her to eventually take up residence in Chestertown, NY, where she became an active Board member for the Town of Chester Public Library. After “Ferd’s” passing, she returned to Port Jefferson and continued her close relationship with the Ruplin children and grandchildren. There, she met and married John Reilly (Jack).
They settled in Montgomery, NY to be closer to Jack’s two young daughters, whom she raised as her own. She is preceded in death by her parents, sisters June, Diane, Lynn, brother Gary and stepson Chris Ruplin. She is survived by her sisters, Jill West and Dale Keeton, brother Paul Weiner, Ruplin stepsons Ferd (Loretta), Warren, Tim (Heather) and stepdaughter Sarah (Stuart). Her Reilly stepdaughters, Erin and Hannah and many nieces, and grandchildren, Chelsea, Ferdie, Amanda, Rebecca, Katelyn, Victoria, and Rylee to whom she was lovingly referred to as “Oma”.